G65 
MAIN 


THE 


Q 


ERN  PLA'  FORM: 


OR, 


NUAL  OF  SOUTHERN  SENTIMENT 


SUBJECT  OF  SLAVERY. 


BY  DAXIEL  R.  (GOODLOE. 


BOSTON. 

JOHN   P.   JEWKTT    &   CO  ,   PUBLISHERS. 

1858. 


THE 


SOUTHERN  PLATFORM: 


OR, 


MANUAL  OF  SOUTHERN  SENTIMENT 


N    "HK 


SUBJECT  OF  SLAVERY 


BY  DANIEL  R.  iGOODLOE. 


B  OS  TON. 

JOHN   P.   JEWETT   &   CO  ,   PUBLISHERS. 

1858. 


THE 


SOUTHERN  PLATFORM: 


OR, 


MANUAL  OF  SOUTHERN   SENTIMENT 


ON   THE 


SUBJECT    OF    SLAVERY 


BY  DANIEL  R.   GOODLOE. 


BOSTON. 

JOHN  P.  JEWETT     &     CO.,    PUBLISHERS. 
1858. 


In  the  compilation  of  this  volume,  I  have  attempted  to  bring  together  all  that  the  most  eminent  Southern 
Revolutionary  characters  have  lelt  us  in  their  writings,  upon  th^  subject  of  Slavery.  It  will  b  •  seen  that  their 
testimony  is  almost  unanimous  against  the  institution.  The  leading  minds  of  the  South,  except  those  of  South 

Carolina  and  Georgia,  were  not  less  impressed  witn  the  evils  of  Slavery — moral,  economical,  and  political 

than  those  of  the  N  «rth.  Indeed,  the  most  ultra  Anti-Slavery  views  which  this  volume  will  be  found  to  contain, 
are  those  of  Mr.  Jefferson.  In  the  Federal  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution,  not  n.  voice  was  raised 
in  unqualified  defence  a'id  justification  of  S  avery,  for  even  the  members  from  South  Carolina  only  apologized 
for  the  institution;  while  those  from  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina,  either  openly  denounced  it  as 
criminal  and  disgraceful,  or  freely  admitted  its  evils 

In  the  State  Con  ven  ions,  Slavery  was  treated  with  equal  disfavor  In  those  of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
it  was  reprobated  by  Fed5ralists  and  Anti-Federalists — by  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  the  Constitution. 
Patrick  Henry  and  George  Mason  were  not  less  loud  ii  their  danunciations  of  Slavery,  than  Madison,  Edmund 
Randolph,  and  Pendleton.  In  the  North  Carolina  Conventions,  the  leading  characters  were  equally  emphatic 
in  condemning  it. 

Those  invaluable  testimonies  against  Slavery,  coming  from  the  highest  Southern  authorities,  will  be 
treasured  up  by  Anti-Sbivery  men,  as  indubitable  proof  of  the  justice  of  their  cause.  But  I  apprehend  that  many 
will  feel  regret  and  disappointment  on  finding  that  the  same  great  men  who  reprobated  Slavery  as  an  unmiti 
gated  evil,  were  no  less  strenuous  in  shielding  it  from  the  interference  of  the  Federal  Government,  than  its 
avowed  advocates.  I  profess  to  set  forth  the  views  of  the  men  of  the  Revolution  upon  the  question  of  Slavery, 
and  I  must  do  so  fairly  and  impartially ;  and,  to  this  end,  I  have  taken  nearly  every  passage  from  the  Madison 
Papers  and  Elliott's  Debates,  in  trie  Federal  and  State  Conventions,  which  relate  to  the  subject,  with  extended 
extracts  from  the  Debates  in  Congress  during  the  Administration  of  General  Washington. 

To  denounce  Slavery  in  one  breath,  and  to  insist  upon  constitutional  guarantees  for  its  maintenance  in  the 
next,  may  seem  inconsistent  to  the  minds  of  ardent  Anti-Slavery  men  of  the  present  day;  but  they  should 
recollect  that  the  whole  question,  of  State  Rights  is  involved  in  this  one  of  Slavery,  and  that  to  surrender  the 
sovereignty  of  the  States  in  this  instance,  is  to  open  the  way  1o  consolidation  And,  further,  allowing  Slavery 
to  be  an  unmit'g^^t^d  evil,  as  the  people  of  the  South  generally  did  at  that  time,  they  justly  regarded  themselves 
as  better  qualified  o  spply  the  remedy  than  the  people  of  distant  States,  who  were  not  particularly  interested 
in  the  matter.  I  think  that  reasonable  Anti-Slavery  men,  upon  cool  reflection,  will  concede  this  point. 

My  object  in  making  this  publication  is  not  to  produce  sectional  feeling,  but  to  awaken  in  Southern  minds 
those  noble  and  generous  sentiments  of  freedom  which  animated  their  ancestors. 

When  the  American  people  emerged  from  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  their  commerce  and  agriculture  were 
in  a  state  of  ruin;  and  the  Federation,  the  States,  aud  individuals,  were  overwhelmed  with  debt.  It  required 
great  faith  in  the  success  of  the  Republican  experiment  they  were  making,  to  foresee  the  period  when  these 
accumulated  embarrassments  would  be  removed.  All  that  could  be  hoped,  for  many  year?,  was  that  the  Gov 
ernment  would  be  able  to  meet  existing  and  ordinarily  accruing  demands  upon  its  exchequer,  without  incurring 
further  obligations.  The  patriots  of  that  day,  therefore,  with  every  disposition  to  carry  out  their  principles  of 
freedom  and  equality  to  their  legitimate  results,  thought  it  utterly  impracticable  to  do  so.  They  were  induce'! 
to  adjourn  the  question  of  Emancipation  to  a  future  day.  They  anxiously  and  hopefully  looked  forward  to  the 
period  when  they  could  remove  what  th'ey  denominated  the  "foul  blot"  of  Slavery.  This  idea  pervades  the 
writings  of  all  the  great  and  good  men  of  that  time,  as  this  volume  abundantly  demonstrates. 

It  is  worthy  of  re-nark,  that  at  the  Revo'utionary  ern,  Pennsylvania  was  a  slaveholding  State,  and  conse 
quently  the  views  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Gouverneur  Morris,  and  Mr  Wilson,  are  properly  classed  with  those  <  f  **  ash- 
ington,  Jefferson,  and  Madison.  New  York  was  also  a  slave  S^ate  at  that,  period,  but  s^e  was  represented  in  the 
Federal  Convention  but  a  short  time,  except  by  Gen.  Hamilton,  and  I  have  not  gone  out  of  my  way  to  hunt  up 
testimonies  from  that  quarter.  The  views  of  Mr.  Jay  are  known  to  have  been  strongly  Anti-Slavery;  and,  although 
Gen.  Hamilton  may  have  felt  less  on  the  subject,  he  was  equally  decided  in  his  opposition  to  the  institution. 

I  have  diligently  sought  fjr  everything  which  Gen  Washington  wrote  on  the  subject  of  Slavery.  I:  will  be 
seen  that  his  judgment  and  his  feelings  were  decidedly  against  th^  institution,  whether  viewed  in  the  light 
of  morality  or  political  econtfmy.  And  while  he,  on  all  occasions,  expressed  his  strong  disapprobation  of  it, 
he  saw  and  felt  the  political  necessity  of  shielding  it  from  unconstitutional  encroachment.  Without  this  pro 
tection  from  external  and  Federal  interference,  there  could  be  no  union  among  the  States,  no  domestic  peace, 
and,  therefore,  no  security  for  the  National  Independence. 

Th- position  of  Washington  on  this  question  would  form  the  true  compromise  at  the  present  day.  Hi? 
humanity,  his  benevolence,  his  s°nse  of  ju-tice  and  expediency  were  all  on  the  side  of  Emancipaf'on,  at  the 
earliest  practicable  period;  and  yet,  his  fidelity  to  his  political  obligation-  constrained  him,  While  the  institution 
should  last,  to  maintain  the  State  sovereignty  which  guarded  it  from  illegal  interference. 

The  views  of  Mr  Jefferson  and  Mr  Madison  a-e  entirely  coincident  with  those  of  the  Father  of  his  Country 
on  this  question.  The  former  has  more  strongly  and  pointedly  given  expression  to  his  abhorrence  of  Slavery, 
but  he  concurred  entirely  in  the  n°ces<ity  of  constitutional  inhibitions  against  foreign  interference  with  it.  It 
i*  but  justice  to  those  great  men,  that  their  entire  positions  :-hould  be  known. 

The  resolutions  adopted  at  public  meetings  in  Virginia,  and  by  a  general  Convention  at  Williamsbu  g, 
show  that  the  state  of  feeling  among  the  people  corresponded  with  that  expressed  by  the  eminent  men  whose 
writings  I  have  quoted  in  this  work. 

I  regret  that  I  have  been  compelled  to  place  the  materials  of  this  compilation  in  the  hands  of  the  printer  as 
rapidly  as  I  have  gathered  them,  thereby  precluding  any  methodical  arrangement  of  its  parts.  The  Index,  on 
the  last  page,  however,  will  obvia  e  any  difficulty  which  might  arise  from  this  circumstance. 

WASHINGTON,  March,  1858.  DANIEL  R.  GOODLOE. 

[COPYRIGHT  SECURED.] 


•   E449 


THE  SOUTHERN  PLATFORM. 


The  following  extracts  from  the  proceedings 
of  public  meetings  in  the  Southern  States, 
prior  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  show 
the  state  of  feeling  among  the  people  at  that 
period.  It  will  be  seen  that  Washington, 
Jefferson,  and  Madison,  were  little  in  advance 
of  public  opinion  on  this  subject. 
AMERICAN  ARCHIVES,  FOURTH  SERIES, 

VOLUME  I. 

Prince  George's  County  (Virginia]  Resolutions. 
At  a  general  meeting  of  the  Freeholders  of 
Prince  George's  county,  Virginia,  the  follow 
ing,  among  other  resolutions,  was  unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  African  trade  is  injurious 
to  this  colony,  obstructs  the  population  of  it 
by  freemen,  prevents  manufacturers  and  other 
useful  emigrants  from  Europe  from  settling 
amongst  us,  and  occasions  an  annual  increase 
of  the  balance  of  trade  against  this  colony. — 


Page  494. 


THBODORICK  BLAND, 

Clerk  of  the  Meeting. 

Henry 


Culpepper    County  (Virginia)   meeting; 

Pendleton,  Esq.,  Moderator. 
Resolved,  That  the  importing  slaves  and 
convict  servants  is  injurious  to  this  colony,  as 
it  obstructs  the  population  of  it  with  freemen 
and  useful  manufacturers,  and  that  we  will 
not  buy  any  such  slave  or  convict  servant 
hereafter  to  be  imported. — Page  523. 

JOHN  JAMESON,  Cleric. 

Nansemond  County  (Virginia)  Resolutions. 

Resolved,  That  the  African  trade  is  injurious 
to  this  colony,  obstructs  the  population  of  i 
by  freemen,  prevents  manufacturers  and  othe: 
useful  emigrants   from  Europe  from   settling 
among  us,  and  occasions  an  annual  increase 
of  the  balance  of  trade  against  this  colony. — 
Page  530. 

LEMUEL    RIDDICK     and     BENJAMIN    BAKER, 
Esqrs.,  sent  as  delegates  to  Williamsburg. 

Caroline  County  (Virginia]  Resolutions. 
Resolved,  That  the  African  trade  is  injurious 
to  this  colony,  obstructs  our  population  by 


en,  manufacturers,  and  others,  who 
would  emigrate  from  Europe  and  settle  here, 
nd  occasions  an  annual  balance  of  trade 
.gainst  the  country;  and,  therefore,  that  the 
lurchase  of  all  imported  slaves  ought  to  be 
issociated  against. — Page  541. 

EDMUND  PENDLETON  and  JAMES  TAYLOR, 
lelegates. 

Surry  County  ( Virginia]  Resolutions. 
5th.  Resolved,  That,  as  the  population  of 
his  colony,  with  freemen  and  useful  manu 
facturers,  is  greatly  obstructed  by  the  import- 
ition  of  slaves  and  convict  servants,  we  will 
lot  purchase  any  such  slaves  or  servants 
lereafter  to  be  imported. — Page  593. 

ALLEN  COCKE  and  NICHOLAS  FAULCON,  jr., 
delegates. 

Fairfax  County  (Virginia)  meeting;  George 
Washington,  Esq.,  presiding;  Robert  Harri 
son,  gentleman,  Clerk. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this 
meeting,  that,  during  our  present  difficulties 
and  distress,  no  slaves  ought  to  be  imported 
into  any  of  the  British  colonies  on  this  conti 
nent;  and  we  take  this  opportunity  of  declar 
ing  our  most  earnest  wishes  to  see  an  entire 
stop  forever  put  to  such  a  wicked,  cruel,  and 
unnatural  trade. — Page  600. 

GENERAL  WASHINGTON  and  others,  delegates. 

Address  to  John  Syme  and  Patrick  Henry,  by 
the  Freeholders  of  Hanover  County,  (Fa.) 
The  African  trade  for  slaves  we  consider  as 
most  dangerous  to  virtue  and  the  welfare  of 
this  country ;    we,   therefore,   most   earnestly 
wish  to  see  it  totally  discouraged. — Page  616. 
JOHN  SYME  and  PATRICK  HENRY,  delegates. 

Princess   Ann    County  (Virginia]  Resolutions; 
Anthony  Lawson,  Esq.,  Moderator, 

Resolved,  That  our  Burgesses  be  instructed 
to  oppose  the  importation  of  slaves  and  con 
victs,  as  injurious  to  this  colony,  by  prevent 
ing  the  population  of  it  by  freemen  and  useful 
manufacturers. — Page  641. 

THOMAS  ABBOTT,  Clerk. 
Virginia  Convention. 

At  a  very  full  meeting  of  delegates  from  the 
different  counties  in  the  Colony  and  Dominion 


246 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


of  Virginia,  begun  in  Williamsburg,  the  first  ] 
day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1774, 
and  continued,  by  several  adjournments,  to 
Saturday,  the  6th  of  the  same  month,  the  fol 
lowing  association  was  unanimously  resolved 
upon  and  agreed  to : 

*         *         *         *         *         *         * 

2d.  We  will  neither  ourselves  import,  nor 
purchase  any  slave  or  slaves  imported  by  any 
other  person,  after  the  first  day  of  November 
next,  either  from  Africa,  the  West  Indies,  or 
any  other  place. 

-x-         *****         ->:- 

For  the  most  trifling  reasons,  and  sometimes 
for  no  conceivable  reason  at.  all,  his  Majesty 
has  rejected  laws  of  the  most  salutary  tenden 
cy.  The  abolition  of  domestic  slavery  is  the 
greatest  object  of  desire  in  those  colonies 
where  it  was  unhappily  introduced  in  their 
infant  state.  But,  previous  to  the  enfranchise 
ment  of  the  slaves  we  have,  it  is  necessary  to 
exclude  all  further  importations  from  Africa. 
Yet  our  repeated  attempts  to  effect  this  by 
prohibitions,  and  by  imposing  duties  which 
might  amount  to  a  prohibition,  have  been 
hitherto  defeated  by  his  Majesty's  negative ; 
thus  preferring  the  immediate  advantages  of  a 
few  African  corsairs  to  the  lasting  interests  of 
the  American  States,  and  to  the  rights  of  hu 
man  nature,  deeply  wounded  by  this  infamous 
practice.  Nay,  the  single  interposition  of  an 
interested  individual  against  a  law,  was  scarcely 
ever  known  to  fail  of  success,  though  in  the 
opposite  scale  were  placed  the  interests  of  n 
whole  country.  That  this  is  so  shameful  an 
abuse  of  a  power  trusted  with  his  Majesty  foi 
other  purposes,  as,  if  not  reformed,  would  call 
for  some  legal  restrictions. — Pages  636  to  696. 

North  Carolina  Convention. 
The  Journal  of  the  Proceedings   of  the  first 

Provincial  Convention  of  North    Carolina, 

held  at  Newbern,  on  the  24th  day  of  August. 

A.  D.  1774. 

North  Carolina,  ss.  At  a  general  meeting 
of  deputies  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  province, 
at  Newbern,  the  twenty-fifth  day  of  August,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1774,  appeared  for — 

Anson  County — Mr.  Samuel  Spencer,  Wru 
Thomas  ;  Beaufort — Roger  Ormond,  Thomas 
Respess,  jr. ;  Bladen — William  Salter,  Walter 
Gibson;  Bute — William  Person,  Green  Hill; 
Brunswick — Robert  Howe  ;  Bertie — John 
Campbell;  Craven — James  Coor,  Lemuel 
Hatch,  Joseph  Leech,  Richard  Cogdell;  Car- 
teret — William  Thompson;  Currituck — Solo 
mon  Perkins,  Nathan  Poymer,  Samuel  Jarvis  ; 
Chowan — Samuel  Johnston,  Thomas  Oldham, 
Thomas  Benbury,  Thomas  Jones,  Thomas 
Hunter;  Cumberland — Farquard  Campbell, 

Thos.  Rutherford;  Chatham —  none;  Dobbs 

Richard  Caswell,  William  McKennie,  George 
Miller,  Simon  Bright;  Duplin — Thomas  Gray, 
Thomas  Hicks,  James  Kenan,  William  Dick- 
son;  Edgecomb — none;  Granville — Thomas 
Person,  Memucan  Hunt;  Guilford — none; 
Hyde — Rothias  Latham,  Samuel  Smith;  Hert 
ford — none;  Halifax — Nicholas  Long,  Willie 
Jones;  Johnston — Needham  Bryan,  Benjamin 


Williams  ;  Mecklenburg — Beujamin  Patton  ; 
Martin — Edmund  Smythwick  ;  New  Hanover — 
John  Ashe,  William  Hooper;  Northampton — 
Allen  Jones;  Orange — Thomas  Hart ;  Onslow — 
Wm.  Cray;  Perquimans — John  Harvey,  Ben 
jamin  Harvey,  Andrew  Knox,  Thomas  Harvey, 
Jno.  Whedbee,  jr. ;  Pasquotank — Joseph  Jones, 
Edward  Evcrigiu,  Joseph  Reading;  Pitt — John 
Simpson,  Edward  Salter;  Rowan — Wm.  Ken- 
non,  Moses  Wiuslow,  Samuel  Young;  Surry — 
none;  Tryon — David  Jenkins,  Robert  Alexan 
der;  Tyrrel — Joseph  Spruill,  Jeremiah  Fraser; 
Wake — none;  Newbern — Abner  Nash,  Isaac 
Edwards;  Edenton — Joseph  Hewes;  Wilming 
ton — Francis  Clayton;  for  the  town  of  Bath — 
Wm.  Brown;  Halifax,  John  Geddy;  Hillsbo- 
rough — none;  Salisbury — none;  Brunswick — 
none  ;  Campbelton — none. 

The  deputies  then  proceeded  to  make  choice 
of  a  moderator,  when  Colonel  John  Harvey 
was  unanimously  chosen,  and  Mr.  Andrew 
Knox  appointed  clerk. 

******* 

Resolved,  That  we  will  not  import  any  slave 
or  slaves,  or  purchase  any  slave  or  slaves  im 
ported  or  brought  into  this  province  by  others, 
from  any  part  of  the  world,  after  the  first  day 
of  November  next. — Page  735. 

Continental  Congress,  Philadelphia,  October,  20, 
1774. 

We  do  for  ourselves,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
the  several  colonies  whom  we  represent,  firmly 
agree  and  associate  under  the  sacred  ties  of 
Virtue,  Honor,  and  Love  of  our  Country,  as 
follows : 


2.  That  we  will  neither  import  nor  purchase 
any  slave  imported  after  the  first  day  of  De 
cember  next;  after  which  time,  we  will  wholly 
discontinue  the  slave  trade,  and  will  neither 
be  concerned  in  it  ourselves,  nor  will  we  hire 
our  vessels,  nor  sell  our  commodities  or  manu 
factures,  to  those  who  are  concerned  in  it. — 
Page  914. 

11.  That  a  committee  be  chosen  in  every 
county,  city,  and  town,  by  those  who  are 
qualified  to  vote  for  Representatives  in  the 
Legislature,  whose  business  it  shall  be  atten 
tively  to  observe  the  conduct  of  all  persons 
touching  this  association;  and  when  it  shall 
be  made  to  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  ma 
jority  of  any  such  committee  that  any  person 
within  the  limits  of  their  appointment  has 
violated  this  Association,  that  such  majority 
do  forthwith  cause  the  truth  of  the  case  to  be 
published  in  the  Gazette,  to  the  end  that  all 
I  such  foes  to  the  rights  of  British  America,  may 
be  publicly  known,  and  universally  contemned 
as  the  enemies  of  American  liberty;  and 
thenceforth  we  respectively  will  break  off  all 
dealings  with  him  or  her. — Page  915. 

14.  And  we  do  further  agree  and  resolve, 
that  we  will  have  no  trade,  commerce,  deal 
ings,  or  intercourse  whatsoever,  with  any 
colony  or  province  in  North  America,  which 
shall  not  accede  to,  or  which  shall  hereafter 
violate  this  Association,  but  will  hold  them  as 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


unworthy  of  the  rights  of  freemen,  and  as  in 
imical  to  the  liberties  of  this  country. 
-«•         •*         #         *         *         *         *• 

The  foregoing  Association,  being  determined 
upon  by  the  Congress,  was  ordered  to  be  sub 
scribed  by  the  several  members  thereof;  and 
thereupon  we  have  hereunto  set  our  respective 
names  accordingly. 

In  Congress,  Philadelphia,  October  20,  1774. 
PEYTON  RANDOLPH,  President. 
New  Hampshire. — John  Sullivan,  Nathaniel 
Folsom. 

Massachusetts  Bay. — Thomas  Gushing,  Sam 
uel  Adams,  John  Adams,  Robert  Treat  Payne. 
Rhode   Island. — Stephen   Hopkins,    Samuel 
Ward. 

Connecticut. — Eliphalet  Dyer,  Roger  Sher 
man,  Silas  Deane. 

New  York. — Isaac  Low,  John  Alsop,  John 
Jay,  James  Duane,  Philip  Livingston,  William 
Floyd,  Henry  Wisner,  Simon  Boerum. 

New  Jersey. — James  Kiney,  William  Living 
ston,  Stephen  Crane,  Richard  Smith,  John  De 
Hart. 

Pennsylvania. — Joseph  Galloway,  John  Dick 
inson,  Charles  Humphreys,  Thomas  Miffiin, 
Edward  Biddle,  John  Morton,  George  Ross. 

The  Lower  Counties,  New  Castle,  $c. — Caesar 
Rodney,  Thomas  McKean,  George  Read. 

Maryland.  —  Matthew  Tilghman,  Thomas 
Johnson,  jr.,  William  Paca,  Samuel  Chase. 

Virginia.  —  Richard    Henry    Lee,     George 

Washington,    Patrick    Henry,     jr.,     Richard 

Bland,  Benjamin  Harrison,  Edmund  Pendleton. 

North   Carolina. — William   Hooper,   Joseph 

Hewes,  Richard  Caswell. 

South  Carolina. — Henry  Middleton,  Thomas 
Lynch,  Christopher  Gadsden,  John  Rutledge, 
Edward  Rutledge. 

Ordered,  That  this  Association  be  committed 
to  the  press,  and  that  one  hundred  and  twenty 
copies  be  struck  off.  , 

Continental  Congress,  Friday,  October  21,  17*74. 
The  address  to  the  people  of  Great  .Britain 
being  brought  in,  and  the  amendments  direct 
ed  being  made,  the  same  was  approved,  and  is 
as  follows: 

To  the  People  of  Great  Britain,  from  the  Dele 
gates  appointed  by  the  several  English  Colo 
nies  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations, 
Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania,  the  Lower  Counties  on  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and 
South  Carolina,  to  consider  of  their  griev 
ances  in  General  Congress,  at  Philadelphia, 
September  5th,  1774. 

Friends  and  Fellow  Citizens :   When  a  nation, 
led  to  greatness  by  the  hand  of  Liberty,  and 
of  all  the  glory  that  heroism,  mu 


nificence,  and  humanity,  can  bestow,  descends 
to  the  ungrateful  task  of  forging  chains  for 
her  friends  and  children,  and,  instead  of  giving 
support  to  Freedom,  turns  advocate  for  Sla 
very  and  Oppression,  there  is  reason  to  suspect 
she  has  either  ceased  to  be  virtuous,  or  been 
extremely  negligent  in  the  appointment  of  her 
rulers. — Pages  914  to  917. 


Darien  (Georgia)  Resolutions. 

IN  THE  DARIEN  COMMITTEE,  THURSDAY,  JANUARY 
12,  1775. 

5.  To  show  the  world  that  we  are  not  influ 
enced  by  any  contracted  or  interested  motives, 
but  a  general  philanthropy  for  all  mankind, 
of  whatever  climate,  language,  or  complexion, 
we  hereby  declare  our  disapprobation  and  ab 
horrence  of  the  unnatural  practice  of  slavery 
iu  America,  (however  the  uncultivated  state 
of  our  country  or  other  specious  arguments 
may  plead  for  it,)  a  practice  founded  in  injus 
tice  and  cruelty,  and  highly  dangerous  to  our 
liberties,  (as  well  as  lives,)  debasing  part  of 
our  fellow-creatures  below  men,  and  corrupt 
ing  the  virtue  and  morals  of  the  rest;  and  is 
laying  the  basis  of  that  liberty  we  contend 
for,  (and  which  we  pray  the  Almighty  to  con 
tinue   to    the  latest  posterity,)   upon  a  very 
wrong  foundation:  We,  therefore,    resolve  at 
all  times  to  use  our  utmost  endeavors  for  the 
manumission   of  our   slaves   in  this    colony, 
upon  the  most  safe  and  equitable  footing  for 
the  masters  and  themselves. — Page  1136. 
Association  entered  into  by  forty-five  of  the 
deputies  assembled  in  Provincial  Congress, 
at  Savannah,  in  Georgia,  on  the   18th  of 
January,  1775,  and  by  them  subscribed  on 
the  23d,  when  they  chose  Noble  Wirnberly 
Jones,  Archibald  Bullock,  and  John  Hous 
ton,   Esquires,  delegates   to  represent  that 
Colony  in  the  Continental  Congress,  to  be 
held  in  May  next. 

2d.  That  we  will  neither  import  or  purchase 
any  slaves  imported  from  Africa,  or  elsewhere, 
after  the  15th  day  of  March  next. — Page  1158. 
#         *         *         *         *         *         * 

The  foregoing  Association,  being  determined 
upon  by  the  Congress,  was  ordered  to  be  sub 
scribed  by  the  several  members  thereof;  and, 
thereupon,  we  have  hereunto  set  our  respective 
names  accordingly. 

In  Congress,  Savannah,  Georgia,  Jan.  23,  1775. 

JOHN  GLEN,  Chairman. 

Noble  W.  Jones,  Samuel  Farley,  Ambrose 
Wright,  Peter  Tondee,  Thomas  Lee,  William 
Young,  JohnMcClure,  Archibald  Bullock,  John 
Houston,  Joseph  Habersham,  George  Houston, 
Edward  Telfair,  William  Gibbons,  Peter  Bard, 
D.  Zubly,  jr.,  James  De  Veaux,  Joseph  Clay, 
Philip  Box,  William  Owen,  George  Walton, 
John  Stirk,  Isaac  Young,  Robert  Rae,  Robert 
Hamilton,  Edmund  Bugg,  William  Glascock, 
John  Germany,  L.  Marbury,  Hugh  Middleton, 
Samuel  Germany,  John  Wereat,  Jonathan 
Cochran,  George  Mclntosh,  Raymond  Demeer, 
William  Jones,  James  Cochran,  Joseph  Gib 
bons,  Francis  H.  Harris,  Samuel  Elbert,  Henry 
Jones,  William  Lord,  John  Mann,  David  Lewis, 
George  Wyche.— Page  1160. 


FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF  WASHINGTON. 
Washington's  Will. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen. 
I,  George  Washington,  of  Mount  Vernon,  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  lately  Presi- 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


dent  of  the  same,  do  make,  ordain,  and  de 
clare,  this  instrument,  which  is  written  with 
my  own  hand,  and  every  page  thereof  sub 
scribed  with  rny  name,*  to  be  my  last  will  and 
testament,  revoking  all  others. 

Item. — Upon  the  decease  of  my  wife,  it  is 
my  will  and  desire  that  all  the  slaves  whom  I 
hold  in  my  own  right,  shall  receive  their  free 
dom.  To  emancipate  them  during  her  life, 
would,  though  earnestly  wished  by  me,  be  at 
tended  with  such  insuperable  difficulties,  on 
account  of  their  intermixture  by  marriage  with 
the  dower  negroes,  as  to  excite  the  most  pain 
ful  sensations,,  if  not  disagreeable  consequences 
to  the  latter,  while  both  descriptions  are  in 
the  occupancy  of  the  same  proprietor;  it  not 
being  in  my  power,  under  the  tenure  by  which 
the  dower  negroes  are  held,  to  manumit  them. 
And  whereas,  among  those  who  will  receive 
freedom  according  to  this  devise,  there  may 
be  some,  who,  from  old  age  or  bodily  infirm 
ities,  and  others,  who,  on  account  of  their  in 
fancy,  will  be  unable  to  support  themselves, 
it  is  my  will  and  desire,  that  all  who  come 
under  the  first  and  second  description,  shall 
be  comfortably  clothed  and  fed  by  my  heirs 
while  they  live;  and  that  such  of  the  latter 
description  as  have  no  parents  living,  or  if 
living,  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  provide  for 
them,  shall  be  bound  by  the  Court  until  they 
shall  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-five  years ; 
and  in  cases  where  no  record  can  be  produced 
whereby  their  ages  can  be  ascertained,  the 
judgment  of  the  Court,  upon  its  own  view  of 
the  subject,  shall  be  adequate  and  final.  The 
negroes  thus  bound,  are  (by  their  masters  or 
mistresses)  to  be  taught  to  read  and  write, 
and  to  be  brought  up  to  some  useful  occupa 
tion  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  the  Common 
wealth  of  Virginia,  providing  for  the  support 
of  orphan  and  other  poor  children.  And  I  do 
hereby  expressly  forbid  the  sale  or  transporta 
tion  out  of  the  said  Commonwealth,  of  any 
slave  I  may  die  possessed  of,  under  any  pre 
tence  whatsoever.  And  I  do,  moreover,  most 
pointedly  and  most  solemnly  enjoin  it  upon 
my  executors  hereafter  named,  or  the  survivors 
of  them,  to  see  that  this  clause  respecting 
slaves,  and  every  part  thereof,  be  religiously 
fulfilled  at  the  epoch  at  which  it  is  directed 
to  take  place,  without  evasion,  neglect,  or  de 
lay,  after  the  crops  which  may  then  be  on  the 
ground  are  harvested,  particularly  as  it  respects 
the  aged  and  infirm ;  seeing  that  a  regular  and 
permanent  fund  be  established  for  their  sup 
port,  as  long  as  there  are  subjects  requiring 
it ;  not  trusting  to  the  uncertain  provision  to 
be  made  by  individuals.  And  to  my  mulatto 
man,  William, .  calling  himself  William  Lee,  I 
give  immediate  freedom;  or,  if  he  should  pre 
fer  it,  (on  account  of  the  accidents  which  have 
befallen  him,  and  which  have  rendered  him 
incapable  of  walking,  or  of  any  active  employ 
ment,)  to  remain  in  the  situation  he  now  is, 
it  shall  be  optional  in  him  to  do  so;  in  either 


*Inth<;  original  manuscript,  George  Washington's 
name  was  wxiuen  at  the  bottom  of  every  page. 


case,  however,  I  allow  him  an  annuity  of  thirty 
dollars,  during  his  natural  life,  which  shall  be 
independent  of  the  victuals  and  clothes  he  has 
been  accustomed  to  receive,  if  he  chooses  the 
last  alternative;  but  in  full  with  his  freedom, 
if  he  prefers  the  first.  And  this  I  give  him,  as 
a  testimony  of  my  sense  of  his  attachment  to 
me,  and  for  his  faithful  services  during  the 
revolutionary  war. —  Vol.  i,  pp.  569,  5*70. 

Extract  of  a  letter  to  the  President  of  Congress, 

dated  Cambridge,  3lst  December,  1775. 
It  has  been  represented  to  me  that  the  free 
negroes  who  have  served  in  this  army  are  very 
much  dissatisfied  at  being  discarded.  As  it  is 
to  be  apprehended  that  they  may  ask  employ 
ment  in  the  ministerial  army,  I  have  presumed 
to  depart  from  the  resolution  respecting  them, 
and  have  given  license  for  their  being  enlisted. 
If  this  is  disapproved  of  by  Congress,  I  will 
put  a  stop  to  it.* 

Extract  of  a  letter  to  Henry  Laurens  (of  South 
Carolina)  in  Congress. 
MIDDLEBROOK,  2,0th  March,  1779. 

The  policy  of  our  arming  slaves  is,  in  my 
opinion,  a  moot  point,  unless  the  enemy  set 
the  example. f  For,  should  we  begin  to  form 
battalions  of  them,  I  have  not  the  smallest 
doubt,  if  the  war  is  to  be  prosecuted,  of  their 
following  us  in  it,  and  justifying  the  measure 
upon  our  own  ground.  The  contest  must  then 
be,  who  can  arm  fastest.  And  where  are  our 
arms?  Besides,  I  am  not  clear,  that  a  dis 
crimination  will  not  render  slavery  more  irk 
some  to  those  who  remain  in  it.  Most  of  the 
good  and  evil  things  in  this  life  are  judged  of 
by  comparison;  and  I  fear  a  comparison  in 
this  case  will  be  productive  of  much  discon 
tent  in  those  who  are  held  in  servitude.  But 
as  this  is  a  subject  that  has  never  employed 
much  of  my  thoughts,  these  are  no  more  than 
the  first  crude  ideas  that  have  struck  me  upon 
the  occasion. 

To  Lt.  Col.  John  Laurens  (of  South  Carolina.} 
HEADQUARTERS,  IQth  July,  1782. 

MY  DEAR  SIR:  The  post  brought  me  your 
letter  on  the  19th  of  May.  I  must  confess  that 
I  am  not  at  all  astonished  at  the  failure  of 

*  At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Officers,  previously  to 
the  arrival  of  the  committee  from  Congress  in  camp, 
it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  it  was  not  expedi 
ent  to  enlist  slaves  in  the  new  army,  and,  by  a  large 
majority,  negroes  of  every  description  were  excluded 
from  enlistment.  When  the  subject  was  referred  to 
the  committee  in  conference,  this  decision  was  con 
firmed.  In  regard  to  free  negroes,  however, the  resolve 
was  not  adhered  to,  and  probably  for  the  reason  here 
mentioned  by  General  Washington.  Many  black  sol 
diers  were  in  the  service  during  all  stages  of  the 
war.— Fof.  Hi,  pp.  218,  219. 

t  Mr.  Laurens  had  written,  March  16th :  "Our  affairs 
in  the  Southern  department  are  more  favorable  than 
we  had  considered  them  a  few  days  ago  ;  nevertheless, 
the  country  is  greatly  distressed,  and  will  be  more  so, 
unless  further  reinforcements  are  sent  to  its  nlief. 
Had  we  arms  for  three  thousand  such  b  ack  men  as  I 
could  select  in  Carolina,  I  should  have  no  doubt  of 
success  in  driving  the  British  out  of  Georgia,  and  sub 
duing  East  Florida,  before  the  end  of  July." — Vol.  vi, 
p.  204. 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


your  plan.  The  spirit  of  freedom,  which  at  the 
commencement  of  this  contest  would  gladly 
have  sacrificed  everything  to  the  attainment 
of  its  object,  has  long  since  subsided,  and 
every  selfish  passion  has  taken  its  place.  It 
is  not  the  public,  but  private  interest  which 
influences  the  generality  of  mankind;  nor  can 
the  Americans  any  longer  boast  an  exception. 
Under  these  circumstances,  it  would  rather 
have  been  surprising  if  you  had  succeeded; 
nor  will  you,  I  fear,  have  better  success  in 
Georgia.* 

To  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette. — 5th  April,  1783. 
{Extract.'} 

The  scheme,  my  dear  Marquis,  which  you 
propose  as  a  precedent,,  to  encourage  the 
emancipation  of  the  black  people  in  this  coun 
try  from  the  state  of  bondage  in  which  they  are 
held,  is  a  striking  evidence  of  the  benevolence 
of  your  heart.  I  shall  be  happy  to  join  you  in 
so  laudable  a  work;  but  will  defer  going  into 
a  detail  of  the  business  till  I  have  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  you, —  Vol.  viii,pp.  414,  415. 

To  Robert  Morris. 
MOUNT  VERNON,  12th  April,  1786. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  give  you  the  trouble  of  this 
letter  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Dalby,  of  Alexan 
dria,  who  is  called  to  Philadelphia,  to  attend 
what  he  conceives  to  be  a  vexatious  lawsuit, 
respecting  a  slave  of  his,  whom  a  society  of 
Quakers  in  the  city,  formed  for  such  purposes, 
have  attempted  to  liberate.  The  merits  of  this 
case  will,  no  doubt,  appear  upon  trial.  From 
Mr.  Dalby's  state  of  the  matter,  it  should  seem, 
that  this  society  is  not  only  acting  repugnant 
ly  to  justice,  so  far  as  its  conduct  concerns 
strangers,  but  in  my  opinion  impoliticly  with 
respect  to  the  State,  the  city  in  particular, 
without  "being  able,  except  in  acts  of  tyranny 
and  oppression,  to  accomplish  its  own  ends. 
He  says  the  conduct  of  this  society  is  not 
sanctioned  by  law.  Had  the  case  been  other 
wise,  whatever  my  opinion  of  the  law  might 
have  been,  my  respect  for  the  policy  of  the 
State  would  on  this  occasion  have  appeared 
in  my  silence ;  because  against  the  penalties 
of  promulgated  laws  one  may  guard,  but  there 
is  no  avoiding  the  snares  of  individuals,  or  of 
private  societies.  If  the  practice  of  this  so 
ciety,  of  which  Mr.  Dalby  speaks,  is  not  dis 
countenanced,  none  of  those  whose  misfortune 
it  is  to  have  slaves  as  attendants,  will  visit  the 
city,  if  they  can  possibly  avoid  it;  because,  by 
so  doing,  they  hazard  their  property,  or  they 
must  be  at  the  expense  (and  this  will  not  al- 

*The  plan  here  mentioned,  which  Colonel  Laurens 
was  extremely  anxious  to  carry  into  effect,  was  to 
raise  a  regiment  of  black  levies  in  South  Carolina. 
He  brought  the  subject  before  the  Legislatu»e  rf  the 
State,  and  pursued  it  with  all  his  zt- al  a-d  influence, 
but  the  measure,  was  not  approved.  "It  was  some 
consolation,  however,"  said  he,  u  to  perceive  that  truih 
and  philosophy  had  gained  some  ground,  the  suffrages 
in  favor  of  the  measure  being  twice  as  numerous  us 
on  a  former  occasion.  Some  hopes  have  lately  been 
given  me  from  Georgia;  but  I  fear,  wnen  the  question 
is  put,  we  shall  be  outvoted  th'-re  with  as  much  dis 
parity  as  we  have  been  in  this  country.'' — Vol.  viii  pp 
J22,  m 


ways  succeed)  of  providing  servants  of  another 

miption. 
lope  it  will  not  be  conceived,  from  these 
observations,  that  it  is  my  wish  to  hold  the 
unhappy  people,  who  are  the  subject  of  this 
letter,  in  slavery.  I  can  only  say,  that  there 
s  not  a  man  living  who  wishes  more  sincerely 
than  I  do,  to  see  a  plan  adopted  for  the  aboli 
tion  of  itj[  But  there  is  only  one  proper  and 
effectual  mode  by  which  it  can  be  accomplish 
ed,  and  that  is  by  legislative  authority ;  and 
this,  as  far  as  my  suffrage  will  go,  shall  never 
be  wanting.*  But  when  slaves,  who  are  hap 
py  and  contented  with  their  present  masters, 
are  tampered  with,  and  seduced  to  leave  them; 
when  masters  are  taken  unawares  by  these 
practices ;  when  a  conduct  of  this  kind  begets 
discontent  on  one  side  and  resentment  on  the 
other;  and  when  it  happens  to  fall  on  a  man 
whose  purse  will  not  measure  with  that  of  the 
society,  and  he  loses  his  property  for  want  of 
means  to  defend  it;  it  is  oppression  in  such  a 
case,  and  not  humanity  in  any,  because  it  in 
troduces  more  evils  than  it  can  cure. 

I  will  make  no  apology  for  writing  to  you 
on  this  subject;  for,  if  Mr.  Dalby  has  not  mis 
conceived  the  matter,  an  evil  exists,  which  re 
quires  a  remedy;  if  he  has,  my  intentions  have 
been  good,  though  I  may  have  been  too  pre 
cipitate  in  this  address.  Mrs.  Washington 
joins  me  in  every  good  and  kind  wish  for  Mrs. 
Morris  and  your  family,  and  I  am. —  Vol.  ix,pp. 
158-160. 

The  benevolence  of  your  heart,  my  dear 
Marquis,  is  so  conspicuous  on  all  occasions, 
that  I  never  wonder  at  any  fresh  proofs  of  it; 
but  your  late  purchase  of  an  estate  in  the  col 
ony  of  Cayenne,  with  a  view  of  emancipating 
the  slaves  on  it,  is  a  generous  and  noble  proof 
of  your  humanity. f  Would  to  God  a  like 
spirit  might  diffuse  itself  generally  into  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  this  country!  But  I 
despair  of  seeing  it.  Some  petitions  were  pre 
sented  to  the  Assembly,  at  its  last  session,  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery ;  but  they  could  scarce 
ly  obtain  a  reading.  To  set  the  slaves  afloat 
at  once  would,  I  really  believe,  be  productive 
of  much  inconvenience  and  mischief;  but  by 
degrees  it  certainly  might,  and  assuredly  ought 
to  be  effected;  and  that,  too,  by  .legislative  au 
thority.— Pp.  163,  164. 

To  Charles  Pinckney,  Governor  of  South  Caro 
lina.— March  17,  1792.     [Extract.] 

I  must  say,  that  I  lament  the  decision  of 
your  Legislature  upon  the  question  of  import- 


*  In  writing  t->  Mr.  John  F.  Mercer  on  this  subject, 
General  Washington  said:  "1  never  mean,  unless 
'Otm;  particular  circumstance  should  compel  me  to 
it,  to  possess  another  slave  by  purchase,  it  being 
among  my  first  wishes  to  see  some  plan  adopted,  by 
which  slavery  in  this  country  may  be  abolished  by 
law." — September  9,  1786. 

fin  a  remarkab'e  and  very  interesting  letter,  writ 
ten  by  Lafayette  in  the  prison  of  Magdeburg,  he  said: 
"I  kiiow  not  what  disposition  has  been  made  of  ray 
plant" lion  at  Cayenne;  but  I  hops  Madame  d^  Lafay 
ette  will  take  care,  thai  the  negroes  who  cu'tiva'e  it 
shall  preserve  their  liberty."— Spare's  Life  of  Gouver- 
neur  Murris,  vol  t,  p.  4lO. 


8 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


ing  slaves  after  March,  1793.  I  was  in  hopes 
that  motives  of  policy  as  well  as  other  good 
reasons,  supported  by  the  direful  effects  of  sla 
very,  which  at  this  moment  are  presented, 
would  have  operated  to  produce  a  total  prohi 
bition  of  the  importation  of  slaves,  whenever 
the  question  came  to  be  agitated  in  any  State 
that  might  be  interested  in  the  measure.* 

This  extract  from  a  letter  of  Washington 
was  first  published  by  Mr.  Sutnner,  in  his  able 
constitutional  argument  on  Slavery,  delivered 
August  26th,  1852.  Mr.  Sumner,  in  introdu 
cing  it,  said: 

While  President  of  the  United  States,  at  the 
close  of  his  administration,  Washington  sought 
to  recover  a  slave,  who  had  fled  to  New  Hamp 
shire.  His  autograph  letter  to  Mr.  Whipple, 
the  Collector  of  Portsmouth,  dated  at  Philadel 
phia,  28th  November,  1796,  which  I  now  hold 
in  my  hand,  and  which  has  never  before  seen 
the  light,  after  describing  the  fugitive,  and 
particularly  expressing  the  desire  of  "her  mis 
tress,"  Mrs.  Washington,  for  her  return,  em 
ploys  the  following  decisive  language : 

"I  do  not  mean,  however,  by  this  request, 
that  such  violent  measures  should  be  used 

AS  WOULD  EXCITE  A  MOB  OR  RIOT,  WHICH  MIGHT 
BE  THE  CASE  IP  SHE  HAS  ADHERENTS,  OR  EVEN 
UNEASY  SENSATIONS  IN  THE  MINDS  OF  WELL-DIS 
POSED  CITIZENS.  Rather  than  either  of  these 
should  happen,  I  would  forego  her  services 
altogether;  and  the  example  also,  which  is 
of  infinite  importance. 

"  GEORGE  WASHINGTON." 

Mr.  Whipple,  in  his  reply,  dated  at  Ports 
mouth,  December  22,  1796,  an  autograph  copy 
of  which  I  have,  recognises  the  rule  of  Wash 
ington  : 

"I  will  now,  sir,  agreeably  to  your  desire, 
send  her  to  Alexandria,  if  it  be  practicable 
without  the  consequences  ivhich  you  except — that 
of  exciting  a  riot  or  a  mob,  or  creating  uneasy 
sensations  in  the  minds  of  well-disposed  persons. 
The  first  cannot  be  calculated  beforehand; 
it  will  be  governed  by  the  popular  opinion 
of  the  moment,  or  the  circumstances  that 
may  arise  in  the  transaction.  The  latter 
may  be  sought  into  and  judged  of  by  con 
versing  with  such  persons  without  discover 
ing  the  occasion.  So  far  as  I  have  had  op 
portunity,  I  perceive  that  different  sentiments 
are  entertained  on  this  subject." 

The  fugitive  never  was  returned,  but  lived 
in  freedom  to  a  good  old  age,  down  to  a  very 
recent  period,  a  monument  of  the  just  forbear 
ance  of  him  whom  we  aptly  call  the  Father  of 
his  Country. 


*  From  Governor  Pinckney's  letter  :  '  Our  Legisla 
ture,  among  other  questions,  agitated  the  one  rpspe'-t- 
ing  the  future  importation  enslaves,  a?  the  prohibition 
expires  in  March.  1793  Great  pains  were  used  to 
effect  a  total  prohibition;  hut  upon  the  question  being 
taken  in  the  S- nate,  it  was  lost  by  so  decided  a  ma 
jority,  that  I  think  we  may  consider  it  as  certain  that 
this  State  will,  ;ifter  March,  1703,  import  as  largely  as 
they  ever  did  It  is  a  decision,  upon  the  policy  of 
which  I  confess  I  have  my  doubu." 


DR.  FRANKLIN'S  WORKS,  VOL.  II. 
An  Address  to  the  Public,  from  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Society  for  promoting  the  abolition 

of  Slavery,  and  the  relief  of  free  negroes 

unlawfully  held  in  bondage. 

It  is  with  peculiar  satisfaction  we  assure 
the  friends  of  humanity,  that,  in  prosecuting 
the  design  of  our  association,  our  endeavors 
have  proved  successful,  far  beyond  the  most 
sanguine  expectations. 

Encouraged  by  this  success,  and  by  the  daily 
progress  of  that  luminous  and  benign  spirit  of 
liberty  which  is  diffusing  itself  throughout  the 
world,  and  humbly  hoping  for  the  continuance 
of  the  divine  blessing  on  our  labors,  we  have 
ventured  to  make  an  important  addition  to 
our  original  plan,  and  do  therefore  earnestly 
solicit  the  support  and  assistance  of  all  who 
can  feel  the  tender  emotions  of  sympathy  and 
compassion,  or  relish  the  exalted  pleasure  of 
benevolence. 

Slavery  is  such  an  atrocious  debasement  of 
human  nature,  that  its  very  extirpation,  if  not 
performed  with  solicitous  care,  may  sometimes 
open  a  source  of  serious  evils. 

The  unhappy  man,  who  has  long  been  treat 
ed  as  a  brute  animal,  too  frequently  sinks  be 
neath  the  common  standard  of  the  human 
species.  The  galling  chains  that  bind  his 
body,  do  also  fetter  his  intellectual  faculties, 
and  impair  the  social  affections  of  his  heart. 
Accustomed  to  move  like  a  mere  machine,  by 
the  will  of  a  master,  reflection  is  suspended; 
he  has  not  the  power  of  choice,  and  reason 
and  conscience  have  but  little  influence  over 
his  conduct,  because  he  is  chiefly  governed 
by  the  passion  of  fear.  He  is  poor  and  friend 
less,  perhaps  worn  out  by  extreme  labor,  age, 
and  disease. 

Under  such  circumstances,  freedom  may 
often  prove  a  misfortune  to  himself,  and  pre 
judicial  to  society. 

Attention  to  emancipated  black  people,  it  is 
therefore  to  be  hoped,  will  become  a  branch 
of  our  national  police;  but  as  far  as  we  con 
tribute  to  promote  this  emancipation,  so  far 
that  attention  is  evidently  a  serious  duty  in 
cumbent  on  us,  and  which  we  mean  to  dis 
charge  to  the  best  of  our  judgment  and  abili 
ties. 

To  instruct,  to  advise,  to  qualify  those  who 
have  been  restored  to  freedom,  for  the  exer 
cise  and  enjoyment  of  civil  liberty,  to  promote 
in  them  habits  of  industry,  to  furnish  them 
with  employments  suited  to  their  age,  sex, 
talents,  and  other  circumstances,' and  to  pro 
cure  their  children  an  education  calculated  for 
their  future  situation  in  life — these  are  the 
great  outlines  of  the  annexed  plan,  which  we 
have  adopted,  and  which  we  conceive  will  es 
sentially  promote  the  public  good,  and  the 
happiness  of  these  our  hitherto  too  much  neg 
lected  fellow-creatures. 

A  plan  so  extensive  cannot  be  carried  into 
execution  without  considerable  pecuniary  re 
sources,  beyond  the  present  ordinary  funds  of 
the  society.  We  hope  much  from  the  gene 
rosity  of  enlightened  and  benevolent  freemen, 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


9 


and  will  gratefully  receive  any  donations  or 
subscriptions  for  this  purpose,  which  may  be 
made  to  our  Treasurer,  James  Starr,  or  to 
James  Pemberton,  Chairman  of  our  Committee 
of  Correspondence. 

Signed,  by  order  of  the  Society, 

B.  FRANKLIN,  President. 

Philadelphia,  November  9,  1789. 

On  the  Slave  Trade. 

Dr.  Franklin's  name,  as  President  of  the 
Abolition  Society,  was  signed  to  the  memorial 
presented  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  12th  of  February, 
1789,  praying  them  to  exert  the  full  extent  of 
power  vested  in  them  by  the  Constitution,  in 
discouraging  the  traffic  of  the  human  species. 
This  was  his  last  public  act.  In  the  debates 
to  which  this  memorial  gave  rise,  several  at- 
tempts  were  made  to  justify  the  trade.  In  the 
Federal  Gazette  of  March  25th,  1790,  there  ap 
peared  an  essay,  signed  "Historicus,"  written 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  in  which  he  communicated  a 
speech,  said  to  have  been  delivered  in  the  Di 
van  of  Algiers,  in  1687,  in  opposition  to  the 
prayer  of  the  petition  of  a  sect  called  Erika,  or 
Purists,  for  the  aboliton  of  piracy  and  slavery. 
This  pretended  African  speech  was  an  excel 
lent  parody  of  one  delivered  by  Mr.  Jackson, 
of  Georgia.  All  the  arguments  urged  in  favor 
of  negro  slavery  are  applied  with  equal  force 
to  justify  the  plundering  and  enslaving  of 
Europeans.  It  affords,  at  the  same  time,  a 
demonstration  of  the  futility  of  the  arguments 
in  defence  of  the  slave  trade,  and  of  the 
strength  of  mind  and  ingenuity  of  the  author, 
at  his  advanced  period  in  life.  It  furnishes, 
too,  a  no  less  convincing  proof  of  his  power 
of  imitating  the  style  of  other  times  and  na 
tions,  than  his  celebrated  Parable  against  Per 
secution.  And  as  the  latter  led  many  persons 
to  search  the  Scriptures  with  a  view  to  find  it, 
so  the  former  caused  many  persons  to  search 
the  bookstores  and  libraries  for  the  work  from 
which  it  was  said  to  be  extracted. — Dr.  Stuber. 

MARCH  23,  1790.* 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Federal  Gazette: 

SIR:  Reading  last  night  in  your  excellent 
paper  the  speech  of  Mr.  Jackson  in  Congress 
against  their  meddling  with  the  affair  of  sla 
very,  or  attempting  to  mend  the  condition  of 
the  slaves,  it  put  me  in  mind  of  a  similar  one 
made  about  one  hundred  years  since,  by  Sidi 
Mehemet  Ibrahim,  a  member  of  the  Divan  of 
Algiers,  which  may  be  seen  in  Martin's  ac 
count  of  his  consulship,  anno  1687.  It  was 
against  granting  the  petition  of  the  sect  called 
Erika,  or  Purists,  who  prayed  for  the  abolition 
of  piracy  and  slavery,  as  being  unjust.  Mr. 
Jackson  does  not  quote  it;  perhaps  he  has  not 
seen  it.  If,  therefore,  some  of  its  reasonings 
are  to  be  found  in  his  eloquent  speech,  it  may 
only  show  that  men's  interests  and  intellects 
operate  and  are  operated  on  with  surprising 

*This  paper  is  da  ed  only  twenty  four  days  before 
the  author  b  death,  which  happened  on  the  17th  of 
April  'cl  owing. 


similarity  in  all  countries  and  climates,  when 
ever  they  are  under  similar  circumstances. 
The  African's  speech,  as  translated,  is  as  fol 
lows: 

a  Allah  Bismillah,  $c.,  God  is  great,  and  Ma 
homet  is  his  Prophet. 
"Have  these  Erika  considered  the  conse- 

<  quences  of  granting  their  petition?      If  we 
{  cease  our  cruises  against  the  Christians,  how 
'  shall  we  be  furnished  with  the  commodities 
'  their  countries  produce,  and  which  are  so 
'  necessary  for  us?      If  we   forbear  to  make 
'  slaves  of  their  people,  who,  in  this  hot  cli- 
'  mate,  are  to  cultivate  our  lands?     Who  are 
'  to  perform  the  common  labors  of  our  city 
'  and  in  our  families?     Must  we  not,  then,  be 
'  our  own  slaves?      And  is  there  not  more 
'  compassion  and  more  favor   due  to  us,  as 
'  Mussulnien,  than  to  these   Christian   dogs? 
'  We  have  now  about  fifty  thousand  slaves  in 
'  and  near  Algiers.     This  number,  if  not  kept 
'  up  by  fresh  supplies,  will  soon  diminish,  and 
'  be  gradually  annihilated.     If  we  then  cease 
'  taking  and  plundering  the  Infidel  ships,  and 
'  making  slaves  of  the  seamen  and  passengers, 
1  our  lands  will  become  of  no  value,  for  want 
'  of  cultivation ;  and  the  rents  of  houses  in  the 
'  city  will  sink  one-half;  and  the  revenue  of 
'  Government,  arising  from  its  share  of  prizes, 
'  be  totally  destroyed!      And  for  Avhat?     To 
'  gratify  the  whims  of  a  whimsical  sect,  who 
'  would  have  us  not  only  forbear  making  more 
'  slaves,  but  even  manumit  those  we  have. 

"  But  who  is  to  indemnify  their  masters  for 

<  the  loss  ?     Will  the   State   do   it  ?      Is   our 

<  Treasury  sufficient  ?     Will  the  Erika  do  it  ? 
'  Can  they  do  it  ?     Or  would  they,  to  do  what 
'  they  think  justice  to  the  slaves,  do  a  greater 
'•  injustice  to  the  owners?  ,  And  if  we  set  our 
1  slaves  free,  what  is  to  be  done  with  them  ? 
'  Few  of  them  will  return  to  their  countries ; 
'  they  know  too  well  the  greater  hardships 
'  they  must  there  be  subject  to  ;  they  will  not 
1  embrace    our   holy  religion ;    they  will  not 
'  adopt  our  manners  ;  our  people  will  not  pol- 
'  lute  themselves  by  intermarrying  with  them. 
'  Must  we  maintain  them  as  beggars  in  our 
'  streets,  or  suffer  our  properties  to  be  the  prey 
'  of  their  pillage?      For  men  accustomed  to 
'  slavery  will  not  work  for  a  livelihood,  when 
'  not  compelled.     And  what  is  there  so  pitia- 
'  ble  in  their  present  condition  ?     Were  they 
1  not  slaves  in  their  own  countries  ? 

"  Are  not  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  and  the 
{  Italian  States,  governed  by  despots,  who  hold 
'  all  their  subjects  in  slavery,  without  excep- 
'  tion  ?  Even  England  treats  its  sailors  as 
'  slaves,  for  they  are,  whenever  the  Govern- 
'  ment  pleases,  seized,  and  confined  in  ships 
'  of  war,  condemned  not  only  to  work,  but  to 
'  fight,  for  small  wages,  or  a  mere  subsistence, 
1  not  better  than  our  slaves  are  allowed  by  us. 
'  Is  their  condition,  then,  made  worse  by  fall- 
'  ing  into  our  hands  ?  No ;  they  have  only 
'  exchanged  one  slavery  for  another,  and,  I 
'  may  say,  a  better — for  here  they  are  brought 
'  into  a  land  where  the  sun  of  Islamism  gives 
'  forth  its  light,  and  shines  in  full  splendor, 


10 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


'  and  they  have  an  opportunity  of  making 
'  themselves  acquainted  with  the  true  doc- 
'  trine,  and  thereby  saving  their  immortal 
'  souls.  Those  who  remain  at  home  have  not 
'  that  happiness.  Sending  the  slaves  home, 
'-then,  would  be  sending  them  out  of  light 
'  into  darkness. 

"  I  repeat  the  question,  What  is  to  be  done 
'  with  them?  I  have  heard  it  suggested  that 
'  they  may  be  planted  in  the  wilderness,  where 
'  there  is  plenty  of  land  for  them  to  subsist  on, 
'  and  where  they  may  flourish  as  a  free  State; 
'  but  they  are,  I  doubt,  too  little  disposed  to 
1  labor  without  compulsion,  as  well  as  too  ig- 
'  norant  to  establish  a  good  Government;  and 
'  the  wild  Arabs  would  soon  molest  and  de- 
'  stroy  or  again  enslave  them.  While  serving 
'  us,  we  take  care  to  provide  them  with  every- 
'  thing,  and  they  are  treated  with  humanity. 
'  The  laborers  in  their  own  country  are,  as  I 
'  am  well  informed,  worse  fed,  lodged,  and 
'  clothed.  The  condition  of  most  of  them  is, 
'  therefore,  already  mended,  and  requires  no 
'  further  improvement.  Here  their  lives  are  in 
'  safety.  They  are  not  liable  to  be  impressed 
'  for  soldiers,  and  forced  to  cut  one  another's 
'  Christian  throats,  as  in  the  wars  of  their  own 
'  countries.  If  some  of  the  religious-mad 
'  bigots,  who  now  tease  us  with  their  silly  pe- 
'  titions,  have  in  a  fit  of  blind  zeal  freed  their 
'  slaves,  it  was  not  generosity,  it  was  not  hu- 
'  manity,  that  moved  them  to  the  action — it 
'  was  from  a  conscious  burden  of  a  load  of 
'  sins,  and  a  hope,  from  the  supposed  merits 
'  of  so  good  a  work,  to  be  excused  from  darn- 
'  nation. 

"  How  grossly  are  they  mistaken  to  suppose 
'  slavery  to  be  disallowed  by  the  Alcoran ! 
'  Are  not  the  two  precepts,  to  quote  no  more, 
'  ' Master •«,  treat  your  slaves  with  kindness;  slaves, 
'  serve  your  masters  with  cheerfulness  and  fidelity  J 
'  clear  proofs  to  the  contrary?  Nor  can  the 
'  plundering  of  Infidels  be  in  that  sacred  book 
'  forbidden,  since  it  is  well  known  from  it,  that 
4  God  has  given  the  world,  and  all  that  it  con- 
'  tains,  to  his  faithful  Mussulmen,  who  are  to 
'  enjoy  it  of  right  as  fast  as  they  conquer  it. 
'  Let  us,  then,  hear  no  more  of  this  detestable 
'  proposition,  the  manumission  of  Christian 
'  slaves,  the  adoption  of  which  would,  by  de- 
'  predating  our  lands  and  houses,  and  thereby 
'  depriving  so  many  good  citizens  of  their 
'  properties,  create  universal  discontent,  and 
'  provoke  insurrections,  to  the  endangering 
'  of  Government,  and  producing  general  con- 
'  fusion.  I  have,  therefore,  no  doubt  but  this 
'  wise  council  will  prefer  the  comfort  and  hap- 
'  piness  of  a  whole  nation  of  true  believers,  to 
'  the  whim  of  a  few  Srikft,  and  dismiss  their 
'  petition." 

The  result  was,  as  Martin  tells  us,  that  the 
Divan  came  to  this  resolution:  "The  doctrine, 
'  that  plundering  and  enslaving  the  Christians 
'  is  unjust,  is,  at  best,  problematical;  but  that 
'  it  is  the  interest  of  this  State  to  continue  the 
'  practice,  is  clear;  therefore,  let  the  petition 
'  be  rejected."  And  it  was  rejected  accord 
ingly- 


And  since  like  motives  are  apt  to  produce 
in  the  minds  of  men  like  opinions  and  resolu 
tions,  may  we  not,  Mr.  Brown,  venture  to  pre 
dict,  from  this  account,  that  the  petitions  to 
the  Parliament  of  England  for  abolishing  the 
slave  trade,  to  say  nothing  of  other  Legisla 
tures,  and  the  debates  upon  them,  will  have  a 
similar  conclusion? 

I  am,  sir,  your  constant  reader  and  humble 
servant,  HISTORICUS. 


MADISON  PAPERS. 
From  Mr.  Jefferson's  Minutes  of  Debates  in  1776, 
on  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  published 
with  the  Madison  Papers. 
The  clause,  too,  reprobating  the  enslaving 
the  inhabitants  of  Africa  was  struck  out,  in 
compliance  to   South  Carolina  and   Georgia, 
who  had  never  attempted  to  restrain  the  im 
portation  of  slaves,  and  wrho,  on  the  contrary, 
still  wished  to   continue  it.      Our   Northern 
brethren,  also,  I  believe,  felt  a  little   tender 
under  those  censures;  for,  though  their  people 
have  very  few  slaves  themselves,  yet  they  had 
been  pretty  considerable  carriers  of  them  to 
others. — Page  18. 

From  Mr.  Jefferson's  Original  Draft  of  the  Dec 
laration  of  Independence. 
He  has  waged  cruel  war  against  human  na 
ture  itself,  violating  its  most  sacred  rights  of 
life  and  liberty,  in  the  persons  of  a  distant 
people  who  never  offended  him;  captivating 
and  carrying  them  into  slavery  in  another 
hemisphere,  or  to  incur  miserable  death  in 
their  transportation  thither.  This  piratical 
warfare,  the  opprobrium  of  Infidel  Powers,  is 
the  warfare  of  the  Christian  King  of  Great 
Britain.  Determined  to  keep  open  a  market 
where  men  should  be  bought  an'd  sold,  he  has 
prostituted  his  negative  for  suppressing  every 
legislative  attempt  to  prohibit  or  restrain  this 
execrable  commerce ;  and  that  this  assemblage 
of  horrors  might  want  no  fact  of  distinguished 
dye,  he  is  now  exciting  those  very  people  to 
rise  in  arms  among  us,  and  to  purchase  that 
liberty  of  which  he  has  deprived  them,  by 
murdering  the  people  on  whom  he  also  ob 
truded  them — thus  paying  off  former  crimes 
committed  against  the  liberties  of  one  people, 
with  crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  commit 
against  the  lives  of  another. — Page  24. 
Mr.  Jefferson's  Report  of  Debate  on  Articles  of 

Confederation.    1776. 

"ARTICLE  XL  All  charges  of  war,  and  all 
other  expenses  that  shall  be  incurred  for  the 
common  defence  or  general  welfare,  and  al 
lowed  by  the  United  States  assembled,  shall 
be  defrayed  out  of  a  common  treasury,  which 
shall  be  supplied  by  the  several  colonies  in 
proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  of 
every  age,  sex,  and  quality,  (except  Indians 
not  paying  taxes,)  in  each  colony — a  true 
account  of  which,  distinguishing  the  white 
inhabitants,  shall  be  triennially  taken  and 
transmitted  to  the  Assembly  of  the  United 
States." 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


11 


Mr.  Chase  moved  that  the  quotas  should  be 
paid,  not  by  the  number  of  inhabitants  of  every 
condition,  but  by  that  of  the  "white  inhabit 
ants."  He  admitted  that  taxation  should  be 
always  in  proportion  to  property;  that  this 
was,  in  theory,  the  true  rule;  but  that,  from 
a  variety  of  difficulties,  it  was  a  rule  which 
could  never  be  adopted  in  practice.  The  value 
of  the  property  in  every  State  could  never  be 
estimated  justly  and  equally.  Some  other 
measure  for  the  wealth  of  the  State  must 
therefore  be  devised — some  standard  referred 
to — which  would  be  more  simple.  He  con 
sidered  the  number  of  inhabitants  as  a  tolera 
bly  good  criterion  of  property,  and  that  this 
might  always  be  obtained.  He  therefore 
thought  it  the  best  mode  we  could  adopt,  Avith 
one  exception  only.  He  observed  that  negroes 
are  property,  and,  as  such,  cannot  be  dis 
tinguished  from  the  lands  or  personalities  held 
in  those  States  where  there  are  few  slaves; 
that  the  surplus  of  profit  which  a  Northern 
farmer  is  able  to  lay  by,  he  invests  in  cattle, 
horses,  &c. ;  whereas  a  Southern  farmer  lays 
out  that  same  surplus  in  slaves.  There  is  no 
more  reason,  therefore,  for  taxing  the  Southern 
States  on  the  farmer's  head  and  on  his  slave's 
head,  than  the  Northern  ones  on  their  farmers' 
heads  and  the  heads  of  their  cattle;  that  the 
method  proposed  would  therefore  tax  the 
Southern  States  according  to  their  numbers 
and  their  wealth,  conjunctly,  while  the  North 
ern  would  be  taxed  on  numbers  only ;  that 
negroes,  in  fact,  should  not  be  considered  as 
members  of  the  State,  more  than  cattle,  and 
that  they  have  no  more  interest  in  it. 

Mr.  John  Adams  observed,  that  the  num 
bers  of  people  were  taken  by  this  article  as  an 
index  of  the  wealth  of  the  State,  and  not  as 
subjects  of  taxation;  that,  as  to  this  matter, 
it  was  of  no  consequence  by  what  name  you 
called  your  people — whether  by  that  of  free 
men  or  of  slaves ;  that  in  some  countries  the 
laboring  poor  were  called  freemen,  in  others 
they  were  called  slaves ;  but  that  the  differ 
ence  as  to  the  State  was  imaginary  only. 
What  matters  it,  whether  a  landlord,  employ 
ing  ten  laborers  on  his  farm,  gives  them  an 
nually  as  much  money  as  will  buy  them  the 
necessaries  of  life,  or  gives  them  those  neces 
saries  at  short  hand?  The  ten  laborers  add 
as  much  wealth  annually  to  the  State — in 
crease  its  exports  as  much — in  the  one  case  as 
the  other.  Certainly,  five  hundred  freemen 
produce  no  more  profits — no  greater  surplus 
for  the  payment  of  taxes— than  five  hundred 
slaves.  Therefore,  the  State  in  which  are  the 
laborers  called  freemen  should  be  taxed  no 
more  than  that  in  which  they  are  called  slaves. 
Suppose,  by  any  extraordinary  operation  of 
nature  or  of  law,  one-half  the  laborers  of  a 
State  could,  in  one  night,  be  transformed  into 
slaves — would  the  State  be  made  the  poorer, 
or  the  less  able  to  pay  the  taxes?  That  the 
condition  of  the  laboring  poor  in  most  coun 
tries — that  of  the  fishermen,  particularly,  of 
the  Northern  States — is  as  abject  as  that  of 
slaves.  It  is  the  number  of  laborers  which 


produces  the  surplus  for  taxation ;  and  num 
bers,  therefore,  indiscriminately,  are  the  fair 
index  of  wealth;  that  it  is  the  use  of  the  word 
"property"  here,  and  its  application  to  some 
of  the  people  of  the  State,  which  produces  the 
fallacy.  How  does  the  Southern  farmer  pro 
cure  slaves?  Either  by  importation  or  by 
purchase  from  his  neighbor.  If  he  imports  a 
slave,  he  adds  one  to  the  number  of  laborers 
in  his  country,  and  proportionably  to  its  profits 
and  abilities  to  pay  taxes;  if  he  buys  from  his 
neighbor,  it  is  only  a  transfer  of  a  laborer 
from  one  farm  to  another,  which  does  not 
change  the  annual  produce  of  the  State,  and 
therefore  should  not  change  its  tax;  that  if  a 
Northern  farmer  works  ten  laborers  on  his 
farm,  he  can,  it  is  true,  invest  the  surplus  of 
ten  men's  labor  in  cattle;  but  so  may  the 
Southern  farmer,  working  ten  slaves;  that  a 
State  of  one  hundred  thousand  freemen  can 
maintain  no  more  cattle  than  one  of  one  hun 
dred  thousand  slaves — therefore,  they  have  no 
more  of  that  kind  of  property;  that  a  slave 
may  indeed,  from  the  custom  of  speech,  be 
more  properly  called  the  wealth  of  his  mas 
ter,  and  the  free  laborer  might  be  called  the 
wealth  of  his  employer;  but,  as  to  the  State, 
both  were  equally  its  wealth,  and  should 
therefore  equally  add  to  the  quota  of  its  tax. 

Mr.  Harrison  proposed,  as  a  compromise, 
that  two  slaves  should  be  counted  as  one  free 
man.  He  affirmed  that  slaves  did  not  do  as 
much  work  as  freemen,  and  doubted  if  t\vo 
effected  more  than  one.  That  this  was  proved 
by  the  price  of  labor,  the  hire  of  a  laborer  in 
Southern  Colonies  being  from  £8  to  £12,  while 
in  the  Northern  it  was  generally  £24. 

Mr.  Wilson  said,  that,  if  this  amendment 
should  take  place,  the  Southern  Colonies 
would  have  all  the  benefit  of  slaves,  whilst  the 
Northern  ones  would  bear  the  burden.  That 
slaves  increase  the  profits  of  a  State,  which 
the  Southern  States  mean  to  take  to  them 
selves;  that  they  also  increase  the  burden  of 
defence,  which  would,  of  course,  fall  so  much 
the  heavier  on  the  Northern;  that  slaves  oc 
cupy  the  places  of  freemen,  and  eat  their  food. 
Dismiss  your  slaves,  and  freemen  will  take 
their  places.  It  is  our  duty  to  lay  every  dis 
couragement  on  the  importation  of  slaves; 
but  this  amendment  would  give  the  jus  trium 
liberorum  to  him  who  would  import  slaves. 
That  other  kinds  of  property  were  pretty 
equally  distributed  through  all  the  Colonies; 
there  were  as  many  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep, 
in  the  North  as  the  South,  and  South  as  the 
North — but  not  so  as  to  slaves.  That  experi 
ence  has  shown  that  those  Colonies  have  been 
always  able  to  pay  most,  which  have  the  most 
inhabitants,  whether  they  be  black  or  white; 
and  the  practice  of  the  Sotithern  Colonies  has 
always  been  to  make  every  farmer  pay  poll 
taxes  upon  all  his  laborers,  whether  they  be 
black  or  white.  He  acknowledged,  indeed, 
that  freemen  work  the  most;  but  they  con 
sume  the  most  also. 

They  do  not  produce  a  greater  surplus  for 
taxation.  The  slave  is  neither  fed  nor  clothed 


12 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM 


so  expensively  as  a  freeman.  Again,  white 
<vomen  are  exempted  from  labor  generally, 
which  negro  women  are  not.  In  this,  then, 
the  Southern  States  have  an  advantage,  as  the 
article  now  stands.  It  has  sometimes  been 
said  that  slavery  was  necessary,  because  the 
commodities  they  raise  would  be  too  dear  for 
market  if  cultivated  by  freemen;  but  now  it  is 
said  that  the  labor  of  the  slave  is  the  dearest. 

Mr.  Payne  urged  the  original  resolution  of 
Congress  to  proportion  the  quotas  of  the  States 
to  the  number  of  souls. 

Dr.  Witherspoou  was  of  opinion  that  the 
value  of  lands  and  houses  was  the  best  esti 
mate  of  the  wealth  of  a  nation;  and  that  it 
was  practicable  to  obtain  such  a  valuation. 
This  is  the  true  barometer  of  wealth.  The  one 
now  proposed  is  imperfect  in  itself,  and  unequal 
between  the  States.  It  has  been  objected  that 
negroes  eat  the  food  of  freemen,  and  therefore 
should  be  taxed;  horses  also  eat  the  food  of 
freemen,  therefore  they  sho'uld  also  be  taxed. 
It  has  been  said,  too,  that  in  carrying  slaves 
into  the  estimate  of  the  taxes  the  State  is  to 
pay,  we  do  no  more  than  those  States  them 
selves  do,  who  always  take  slaves  into  the  es 
timate  of  the  taxes  the  individual  is  to  pay. 
But  the  cases  are  not  parallel.  In  the  South 
ern  Colonies  slaves  pervade  the  whole  Colony; 
but  they  do  not  pervade  the  whole  continent. 
That  as  to  the  original  resolution  of  Congress, 
it  was  temporary  only,  and  related  to  the 
moneys  heretofore  emitted;  whereas  we  are 
now  entering  into  a  new  compact,  and  there 
fore  stand  on  original  ground. 

AUGUST  1,  1776. 

The  question  being  put,  the  amendment 
proposed  was  rejected  by  the  votes  of  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con 
necticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Penn 
sylvania,  against  those  of  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina.  Georgia 
was  divided. — Page  27. 


Mr.  Madison  to  Joseph  Jones. — [Extract."] 

PHILADELPHIA,  Nov.  28,  1780. 

Fours  of  the  18th  came  yesterday.  I  am 
glad  to  find  the  Legislature  persist  in  their 
resolution  to  recruit  their  line  of  the  army  for 
the  war;  though,  without  deciding  on  the  ex 
pediency  of  the  mode  under  their  considera 
tion,  would  it  not  be  as  well  to  liberate  and 
make  soldiers  at  once  of  the  blacks  themselves, 
as  to  make  them  instruments  for  enlisting 
white  soldiers  ?  It  would  certainly  be  more 
consonant  with  the  principles  of  liberty,  which 
ought  never  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  a  contest  for 
liberty;  and,  with  white  officers  and  a  majority 
of  white  soldiers,  no  imaginable  danger  could 
be  feared  from  themselves,  as  there  certainly 
could  be  none  from  the  effect  of  the  example 
on  those  who  should  remain  in  bondage — ex 
perience  having  shown  that  a  freedman  im 
mediately  loses  all  attachment  and  sympathy 
with  his  former  fellow-slaves. 

We  have  enclosed  to  the  Governor  a  copy  of 


an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Connecticut,  ceding 
some  of  their  territorial  claims  to  the  United 
States,  which  he  will  doubtless  communicate 
to  the  Assembly.  They  reserve  the  jurisdic 
tion  to  themselves,  and  clog  the  cession  with 
some  other  conditions  which  greatly  depreciate 
it,  and  are  the  more  extraordinary  as  their  title 
to  the  land  is  so  controvertible  a  one. — Page  68. 


From  Mr.  Madison's  Report  of  Debates  in  the 

Congress  of  the  Confederation. 

FRIDAY,  MARCH  ^8,  1783. 

The  committee  last  mentioned  reported  that 
two  blacks  be  rated  as  one  freeman. 

Mr.  Wolcott  was  for  rating  them  as  four  to 
three.  Mr.  Carroll,  as  four  to  one. 

Mr.  Williamson  said  he  was  principled 
against  slavery;  and  that  he  thought  slaves 
an  encumbrance  to  society,  instead  of  increas 
ing  its  ability  to  pay  taxes. 

Mr.  Higginson,  as  four  to  three. 

Mr.  Rutledge  said,  for  the  sake  of  the  object, 
he  would  agree  to  rate  slaves  as  two  to  one; 
but  he  sincerely  thought  three  to  one  would 
be  a  juster  proportion. 

Mr.  Holton,  as  four  to  three. 

Mr.  Osgood  said  he  did  not  go  beyond  four 
to  three. 

On  a  question  for  rating  them  as  three  to 
two,  the  votes  were — New  Hampshire,  aye; 
Massachusetts,  no ;  Rhode  Island,  divided ; 
Connecticut,  aye;  New  Jersey,  aye;  Pennsylva 
nia,  aye ;  Delaware,  aye ;  Maryland,  no ;  Virginia, 
no ;  North  Carolina,  no ;  South  Carolina,  no. 

The  paragraph  was  then  postponed,  by  gen 
eral  consent,  some  wishing  for  further  time  to 
deliberate  on  it;  but  it  appearing  to  be  the 
general  opinion  that  no  compromise  would  be 
agreed  to. 

After  some  further  discussions  on  the  re 
port — in  wrhich  the  necessity  of  some  simple 
and  practicable  rule  of  apportionment  came 
fully  into  view — Mr.  Madison  said  that,  in  or 
der  to  give  a  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  his  pro 
fessions  of  liberality,  he  would  propose  that 
slaves  should  be  rated  as  five  to  three. 

Mr.  Rutledge  seconded  the  motion. 

Mr.  Wilson  said  he  would  sacrifice  his 
opinion  on  this  compromise. 

Mr.  Lee  was  against  changing  the  rule,  but 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  two  slaves  were 
not  equal  to  one  freeman. 

On  the  question  for  five  to  three,  it  was 
pnssed  in  the  affirmative: 

New  Hampshire,  aye;  Massachusetts,  divi 
ded;  Rhode  Island,  no;  Connecticut,  no;  New 
Jersey,  aye;  Pennsylvania,  aye ;  Maryland, aye; 
Virginia,  aye;  North  Carolina,  aye;  South  Car 
olina,  aye. 

A  motion  was  then  made  by  Mr.  Bland, 
seconded  by  Mr.  Lee,  to  strike  out  the  clause 
so  amended. 

And  on  the  question,  "Shall  it  stand?"  it 
passed  in  the  negative : 

Rhode  Island,  no;  Connecticut,  no;  New 
Jersey,  aye;  Pennsylvania,  aye;  Delaware, 
no;  Maryland,  aye;  Virginia,  aye;  North  Car- 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


13 


olina,  aye:  South  Carolina,  no;  New  Hamp 
shire,  aye;  Massachusetts,  no. 

So  the  clause  was  struck  out. 

The  arguments  used  by  those  who  were  for 
rating  slaves  high,  were,  that  the  expense  of 
feeding  and  clothing  them  was  as  far  below 
that  incident  to  freemen,  as  their  industry  and 
ingenuity  were  below  those  of  freemen;  and 
that  the  warm  climate  within  which  the  States 
having  slaves  lay,  compared  with  the  rigorous 
climate  and  inferior  fertility  of  the  others, 
ought  to  have  great  weight  in  the  case;  and 
that  the  exports  of  the  former  States  were 
greater  than  of  the  latter.  On  the  other  side, 
it  was  said  that  slaves  were  not  put  to  labor 
as  young  as  the  children  of  laboring  families ; 
that,  having  no  interest  in  their  labor,  they 
did  as  little  as  possible,  and  omitted  every  ex 
ertion  of  thought  requisite  to  facilitate  and 
expedite  it;  that  if  the  exports  of  the  States 
having  slaves  exceeded  those  of  the  others, 
their  imports  were  in  proportion,  slaves  being 
employed  wholly  in  agriculture,  not  in  manu 
factures  ;  and  that,  in  fact,  the  balance  of  trade 
formerly  was  much  more  against  the  Southern 
States  than  the  others. 

On  the  main  question: 

New  Hampshire,  aye;  Massachusetts,  no; 
Rhode  Island,  no;  Connecticut,  no;  New  York, 
(Mr.  Floyd,)  aye ;  New  Jersey,  aye ;  Delaware, 
no;  Maryland,  aye:  Virginia,  aye;  North  Caro 
lina,  aye;  South  Carolina,  no. — Pages 423-425. 

From  Mr.  Madison's  Report  of  Debates  in  the 
Federal  Convention. 

Mr.  Madison.  We  have  seen  the  mere  dis 
tinction  of  color  made,  in  the  most  enlighten 
ed  period  of  time,  a  ground  of  the  most  op 
pressive  dominion  ever  exercised  by  man  over 
man. — Page  805. 

Mr.  Madison.  And,  in  the  third  place,  where 
slavery  exists,  the  republican  theory  becomes 
still  more  fallacious. — Page  899. 

Mr.  Madison.  But  he  contended  that  the 
States  were  divided  into  different  interests,  not 
by  their  difference  of  size,  but  by  other  circum 
stances  ;  the  most  material  of  which  resulted 
partly  from  climate,  but  principally  from  the 
effects  of  their  having  or  not  having  slaves. 
These  two  causes  concurred  in  forming  the 
great  division  of  interests  in  the  United  States. 
It  did  not  lie  between  the  large  and  small 
States.  It  lay  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern;  and  if  any  defensive  power  were 
necessary,  it  ought  to  be  mutually  given  to 
these  two  interests.  He  was  so  strongly  im 
pressed  with  this  important  truth,  that  he  had 
been  casting  about  in  his  mind  for  some  expe 
dient  that  would  answer  the  purpose.  The  one 
which  had  occurred  was,  that  instead  of  pro 
portioning  the  votes  of  the  States  in  both 
branches  to  their  respective  number  of  inhab 
itants,  computing  the  slaves  in  the  ratio  of  five 
to  three,  they  should  be  represented  in  one 
branch  according  to  the  number  of  free  inhab 
itants  only,  and  in  the  other  according  to  the 
whole  number,  counting  the  slaves  as  free.  By 
this  arrangement  the  Southern  scale  would 


have  the  advantage  in  one  House,  and  the 
Northern  in  the  other.  He  had  been  restrain 
ed  from  proposing  this  expedient  by  two  con 
siderations;  one  was  his  unwillingness  to  urge 
any  diversity  of  interests  on  an  occasion  where 
it  is  but  too  apt  to  arise  of  itself;  the  other 
was  the  inequality  of  powers  that  must  be 
vested  in  the  two  branches,  and  which  would 
destroy  the  equilibrium  of  interests. — Page 
1006. 

Mr.  Patterson.  He  was  also  against  such 
an  indirect  encouragement  of  the  slave  trade; 
observing  that  Congress,  in  their  act  relating 
to  the  change  of  the  eighth  article  of  Confed 
eration,  had  been  ashamed  to  use  the  term 
"slaves,"  and  had  substituted  a  description. — 
Page  1055. 

Mr.  King  had  always  expected,  that,  as  the 
Southern  States  are  the  richest,  they  would 
not  league  themselves  with  the  Northern,  un 
less  some  respect  were  paid  to  their  superior 
wealth.  If  the  latter  expect  those  preferential 
distinctions  in  commerce,  and  other  advantages 
which  they  will  derive  from  the  connection, 
they  must  not  expect  to  receive  them  without 
allowing  some  advantages  in  return.  Eleven 
out  of  thirteen  of  the  States  had  agreed  to 
consider  slaves  in  the  apportionment  of  taxa 
tion;  and  taxation  and  representation  ought 
to  go  together. 

Mr.  Rutledge  moved  that  New  Hampshire  be 
reduced  from  three  to  two  members.  Her 
numbers  did  not  entitle  her  to  three,  and  it 
was  a  poor  State. 

General  Pinckney  seconds  the  motion. 

Mr.  King.  New  Hampshire  has  probably 
more  than  120,000  inhabitants,  and  has  an  ex 
tensive  country  of  tolerable  fertility.  Its  in 
habitants  may  therefore  be  expected  to  increase 
fast.  He  remarked  that  the  four  Eastern 
States,  having  800,000  souls,  have  one-third 
fewer  Representatives  than  the  four  Southern 
States,  having  not  more  than  700,000  souls, 
rating  the  blacks  as  five  for  three.  The  East 
ern  people  will  advert  to  these  circumstances, 
and  be  dissatisfied.  He  believed  them  to  be 
very  desirous  of  uniting  with  their  Southern 
brethren,  but  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  rely 
so  far  on  that  disposition  as  to  subject  them  to 
any  gross  inequality.  He  was  fully  convinced 
that  the  question  concerning  a  difference  of 
interests  did  not  lie  Avhere  it  had  hitherto  been 
discussed,  between  the  great  and  small  States, 
but  between  the  Southern  and  Eastern.  For 
this  reason  he  had  been  ready  to  yield  some 
thing  in  the  proportion  of  Representatives,  for 
the  security  of  the  Southern.  No  principle 
would  justify  the  giving  them  a  majority 
They  were  brought  as  near  an  equality  as  was 
possible.  He  was  not  averse  to  giving  them  a 
still  greater  security,  but  did  not  see  how  it 
could  be  done. 

General  Pinckney.  The  report,  before  it  was 
committed,  was  more  favorable  to  the  South 
ern  States  than  as  it  now  stands.  If  they  are 
to  form  so  considerable  a  minority,  and  the 
regulation  of  trade  is  to  be  given  to  the  General 
Government,  they  will  be  nothing  more  than 


14 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


overseers  for  the  Northern  States.  He  did  not 
expect  the  Southern  States  to  be  raised  to  a 
majority  of  Representatives,  but  wished  them  to 
have  something  like  an  equality.  At  present, 
by  the  alterations  of  the  committee  in  favor  of 
the  Northern  States,  they  are  removed  further 
from  it  than  they  were  before.  One  member 
indeed  had  been  added  to  Virginia,  which  he 
was  glad  of,  as  he  considered  her  as  a  South 
ern  State.  He  was  glad  also  that  the  members 
of  Georgia  were  increased. 

Mr.  Williamson  was  not  for  reducing  New 
Hampshire  from  three  to  two,  but  for  reducing 
some  others.  The  Southern  interest  must  be 
extremely  endangered  by  the  present  arrange 
ment.  The  Northern  States  are  to  have  a  ma 
jority  in  the  first  instance,  and  the  means  of 
perpetuating  it. 

Mr.  Dayton  observed,  that  the  line  between 
Northern  and  Southern  interest  had  been  im 
properly  drawn ;  that  Pennsylvania  was  the 
dividing  State,  there  being  six  on  each  side  of 
her. 

General  Pinckney  urged  the  reduction ;  dwelt 
on  the  superior  wealth  of  the  Southern  States, 
and  insisted  on  its  having  its  due  weight  in 
the  Government. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  regretted  the  turn 
of  the  debate.  The  States,  he  found,  had  many 
representatives  on  the  floor.  Few,  he  feared, 
were  to  be  deemed  the  representatives  of 
America.  He  thought  the  Southern  States 
have,  by  the  report,  more  than  their  share  of 
representation.  Property  ought  to  have  its 
weight,  but  not  all  the  weight.  If  the  South 
ern  States  are  to  supply  money,  the  Northern 
States  arc  to  spill  their  blood.  Besides,  the 
probable  revenue  to  be  expected  from  the 
Southern  States  has  been  greatly  over-rated. 
He  was  against  reducing  New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  opposed  to  a  reduction 
of  New  Hampshire,  not  because  she  had  a  full 
title  to  three  members,  but  because  it  was  in 
his  contemplation,  first,  to  make  it  the  duty, 
instead  of  leaving  it  to  the  discretion  of  the 
Legislature,  to  regulate  the  representation  by 
a  periodical  census  ;  secondly,  to  require  more 
than  a  bare  majority  of  votes  in  the  Legisla 
ture,  in  certain  cases,  and  particularly  in  com 
mercial  cases. 

On  the  question  for  reducing  New  Hamp 
shire  from  three  to  two  Representatives,  it 
passed  in  the  negative  : 

North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  aye ;  2. 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  Geor 
gia,  no ;  8. — Pages  1056-1059. 

Mr.  Randolph.  He  urged  strenuously  that 
express  security  ought  to  be  provided  for  in 
cluding  slaves  in  the  ratio  of  representation. 
He  lamented  that  such  a  species  of  property 
existed.  But,  as  it  did  exist,  the  holders  of  it 
would  require  this  security.  It  was  perceived 
that  the  design  wras  entertained  by  some,  of 
excluding  slaves  altogether ;  the  Legislature 
therefore  ought  not  to  be  left  at  liberty. — Page 
1083. 

General  Pinckney  reminded  the  Convention, 


that  if  the  committee  should  fail  to  insert  some 
security  to  the  Southern  States  against  an 
emancipation  of  slaves,  and  taxes  on  exports, 
he  should  be  bound  by  duty  to  his  State  to 
vote  against  their  report. — Page  1187. 

Mr.  King  wished  to  know  what  influence 
the  vote  just  passed  was  meant  to  have  on  the 
succeeding  part  of  the  report,  concerning  the 
admission  of  slaves  into  the  rule  of  represent 
ation.  He  could  not  reconcile  his  mind  to  the 
article,  if  it  was  to  prevent  objections  to  the 
latter  part.  The  admission  of  slaves  was  a 
most  grating  circumstance  to  his  mind,  and  he 
believed  would  be  so  to  a  great  part  of  the 
people  of  America.  He  had  not  made  a  strenu 
ous  opposition  to  it  heretofore,  because  he 
had  hoped  that  this  concession  would  have 
produced  a  readiness,  which  had  not  been 
manifested,  to  strengthen  the  General  Govern 
ment,  and  to  mark  a  full  confidence  in  it. 

The  report  under  consideration  had,  by  the 
tenor  of  it,  put  an  end  to  all  those  hopes.  In 
two  great  points,  the  hands  of  the  Legislature 
Avere  absolutely  tied.  The  importation  of 
slaves  could  not  be  prohibited.  Exports  could 
not  be  taxed.  Is  this  reasonable  ?  What  are 
the  great  objects  of  the  general  system  ?  First, 
defence  against  foreign  invasion ;  secondly, 
against  internal  sedition.  Shall  all  the  States, 
then,  be  bound  to  defend  each,  and  shall  each 
be  at  liberty  to  introduce  a  weakness  which 
will  render  defence  more  difficult  ?  Shall  one 
part  of  the  United  States  be  bound  to  defend 
another  part,  and  that  other  part  be  at  liberty 
not  only  to  increase  its  own  danger,  but  to 
withhold  the  compensation  for  the  burden  ? 
If  slaves  are  to  be  imported,  shall  not  the  ex 
ports  produced  by  their  labor  supply  a  revenue, 
the  better  to  enable  the  General  Government 
to  defend  their  masters?  There  was  so  much 
inequality  and  unreasonableness  in  all  this, 
that  the  people  of  the  Northern  States  could 
never  be  reconciled  to  it.  No  candid  man 
could  undertake  to  justify  it  to  them.  He  had 
hoped  that  some  accommodation  would  have 
taken  place  on  this  subject ;  that  at  least  a 
time  would  have  been  limited  for  the  importa 
tion  of  slaves.  He  never  could  agree  to  let 
them  be  imported  without  limitation,  and  then 
be  represented  in  the  National  Legislature.  In 
deed,  he  could  so  little  persuade  himself  of  the 
rectitude  of  such  a  practice,  that  he  was  not 
sure  he  could  assent  to  it,  under  any  circum 
stances.  At  all  events,  either  slaves  should 
not  be  represented,  or  exports  should  be  taxa 
ble. 

Mr.  Sherman  regarded  the  slave  trade  as 
iniquitous;  but  the  point  of  representation 
having  been  settled,  after  much  difficulty  and 
deliberation,  he  did  not  think  himself  bound 
to  make  opposition  ;  especially  as  the  present 
article,  as  amended,  did  not  preclude  any  ar 
rangement  whatever  on  that  point,  in  another 
place  of  the  report. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  moved  to  insert  be 
fore  "  inhabitants  "  the  word  "  free."  Much, 
he  said,  would  depend  on  this  point.  He  never 
would  concur  in  upholding  domestic  slavery. 


THE    SOUTUEEN    PLATFORM. 


15 


It  was   a  nefarious  institution.      It  was  the 
curse  of  Heaven  on  the  States  where  it  pre 
vailed.     Compare  the  free  regions  of  the  Mid 
dle  States,  where  a  rich  and  noble  cultivation 
marks   the  prosperity  and    happiness   of  the 
people,  with  the  misery  and  poverty  which 
overspread  the  barren  wastes  of  Virginia,  Ma 
ryland,  and  the   other  States  having  slaves,  j 
Travel  through  the  whole  continent,  and  you  I 
behold  the  prospect  continually  varying  with  I 
the  appearance  and  disappearance  of  slavery.  I 
The  moment  you  leave  the  Eastern  States,  and 
enter  New  York,  the  effects  of  the  institution 
become  visible.     Passing  through  the  Jerseys, 
and  entering  Pennsylvania,  every  criterion  of 
superior  improvement  witnesses   the  change. 
Proceeding  southwardly,  every  step  you  take 
through  the  great  regions  of  slaves  presents  a 
desert,  increasing  with  the  increasing  propor 
tion  of  these  wretched  beings.     Upon  what 
principle  is  it  that  the  slaves  shall  be  computed 
in  the  representation?    Are  they  men?    Then, 
make  them  citizens,  and  let  them  vote.     Are 
they  property?     Why,  then,  is  no  other  prop 
erty  included?     The  houses  in  this  city  (Phil 
adelphia)  are  worth  more  than  all  the  wretch 
ed  slaves  who  cover  the  rice  swamps  of  South 
Carolina.     The  admission  of  slaves  into  the 
representation,  when  fairly  explained,  comes 
to  this :    That  the  inhabitant  of  Georgia  and 
of  South  Carolina,  who  goes  to  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and,  in  defiance  of  the  most  sacred  laws 
of  humanity,  tears  away  his  fellow-creatures 
from  their  dearest  connections,  and  damns  them 
to  the  most  cruel  bondage,  shall  have  more 
votes  in  a  Government  instituted  for  the  pro 
tection  of  the  rights  of  mankind,  than  the  citi 
zen  of  Pennsylvania  or  New  Jersey,  who  views 
with  a  laudable  horror  so  nefarious  a  practice. 
He  would  add,  that  domestic  slavery  is  the 
most   prominent    feature   in    the   aristocratic 
countenance   of    the   proposed    Constitution. 
The  vassalage  of  the  poor  has  ever  been  the 
favorite  offspring  of  aristocracy.    And  what  is 
the  proposed  compensation  to   the  Northern 
States,  for  a   sacrifice  of  every  principle  of 
right — of  every  impulse  of  humanity?     They 
are  to  bind  themselves  to  march  their  militia 
for  the  defence  of  the  Southern  States — for 
their  defence  against  those  very  slaves  of  whom 
they  complain.    They  must  supply  vessels  and 
seamen,  in  case  of  foreign  attack.     The  Legis 
lature  will  have  indefinite  power  to  tax  them  by 
excises  and  duties  on  imports,  both  of  which 
will  fall  heavier  on  them  than  on  the  Southern 
inhabitants,  for  the  Bohea  tea  used  by  a  North 
ern  freeman  will  pay  more  tax  than  the  whole  j 
consumption  of  the  miserable  slave,  which  cou-  ' 
sists  of  nothing  more  than  his  physical  sub-  ( 
sistence  and  the  rag  that  covers  his'iiakedness. 
On  the  other  side,  the  Southern  States  are  not  j 
to  be  restrained  from  importing  fresh  supplies  j 
of  wretched  Africans,  at  once  to  increase  the  j 
danger  of  attack  and  the  difficulty  of  defence,  i 
Nay,  they  are  to  be  encouraged  to  it,  by  an  as-  j 
surance  of  having  their  votes  in  the  National  \ 
Government  increased  in  proportion ;  and  arc,  ' 
at  the  same  time,  to  have  their  exports  and 


their  slaves  exempt  from  all  contributions  for 
the  public  service. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  direct  taxation  is  to 
be  proportioned  to  representation.  It  is  idle 
to  suppose  that  the  General  Government  can 
stretch  its  hand  directly  into  the  pockets  of 
the  people,  scattered  over  so  vast  a  country. 
They  can  only  do  it  through  the  medium  of 
exports,  imports,  and  excises.  For  what,  then, 
are  all  the  sacrifices  to  be  made?  He  would 
sooner  submit  himself  to  a  tax  for  paying  for 
all  the  negroes  in  the  United  States,  than  sad 
dle  posterity  with  such  a  Constitution. 

Mr.  Dayton  seconded  the  motion.  He  did 
it,  he  said,  that  his  sentiments  on  the  subject 
might  appear,  whatever  might  be  the  fate  of 
the  amendment. 

Mr.  Sherman  did  not  regard  the  admission 
of  the  negroes  into  the  ratio  of  representation 
as  liable  to  such  insuperable  objections.  It 
was  the  freemen  of  the  Southern  States  who 
were,  in  fact,  to  be  represented,  according  to 
the  taxes  paid  by  them,  and  the  negroes  are 
only  included  in  the  estimate  of  the  taxes. 
This  was  his  idea  of  the  matter. 

Mr.  Pinckney  considered  the  fisheries  and 
the  Western  frontier  as  more  burdensome  to 
the  United  States  than  the  slaves.  He  thought 
this  could  be  demonstrated,  if  the  occasion 
were  a  proper  one. 

Mr.  Wilson  thought  the  motion  premature. 
An  agreement  to  the  clause  would  be  no  bai 
to  the  object  of  it. 

On  the  question  on  the  motion  to  insert 
"  free  "  before  "  inhabitants  " — 

New  Jersey,  aye;  1.  New  Hampshire,  Mas 
sachusetts,  Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  Dela 
ware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  no;  10. — Pp.  1261 
to  1266. 

Mr.  L.  Martin  proposed  to  vary  article  7, 
section  4,  so  as  to  allow  a  prohibition  or  tax 
on  the  importation  of  slaves.  In  the  first  place, 
as  five  slaves  are  to  be  counted  as  three  free 
men,  in  the  apportionment  of  Representatives, 
such  a  clause  would  leave  an  encouragement 
to  this  traffic.  In  the  second  place,  slaves 
weakened  one  part  of  the  Union,  which  the 
other  parts  were  bound  to  protect;  the  privi 
lege  of  importing  them  was  therefore  unrea 
sonable.  And,  in  the  third  place,  it  was 
inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  the  Re~volu- 
tion,  and  dishonorable  to  the  American  char 
acter,  to  have  such  a  feature  in  the  Constitu 
tion. 

Mr.  Rutledgc  did  not  see  how  the  importa 
tion  of  slaves  could  be  encouraged  by  this 
section.  He  was  not  apprehensive  of  insurrec 
tions,  and  would  readily  exempt  the  other 
States  from  the  obligation  to  protect  the 
Southern  against  them.  Religion  and  hu 
manity  had  nothing  to  do  with  this  question. 
Interest  alone  is  the  governing  principle  with 
nations.  The  true  question  at  present  is, 
whether  the  Southern  States  shall  or  shall 
not  be  parties  to  the  Union.  If  the  Northern 
States  consult  their  interest,  they  will  not  op 
pose  the  increase  of  slaves,  which  will  increase 


16 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


the  commodities  of  which  they  will  become 
the  carriers. 

Mr.  Ellsworth  was  for  leaving  the  clause  as 
it  stands.  Let  every  State  import  what  it 
pleases.  The  morality  or  wisdom  of  slavery 
are  considerations  belonging  to  the  States 
themselves.  What  enriches  a  part  enriches 
the  whole,  and  the  States  are  the  best  judges 
of  their  particular  interest.  The  old  Confede 
ration  had  not  meddled  with  this  point,  and 
he  did  not  see  any  greater  necessity  for  bring 
ing  it  within  the  policy  of  the  new  one. 

Mr.  Pinckney.  South  Carolina  can  never 
receive  the  plan,  if  it  prohibits  the  slave  trade. 
In  every  proposed  extension  of  the  powers  of 
Congress,  that  State  has  expressly  and  watch 
fully  excepted  that  of  meddling  with  the  im 
portation  of  negroes.  If  the  States  be  all  left 
at  liberty  on  this  subject,  South  Carolina  may, 
perhaps,  by  degrees,  do  of  herself  what  is 
wished,  as  Virginia  and  Maryland  have  already 
done. 

Adjourned. 

WEDNESDAY,  AUGUST  22. 

In  Convention. — Article  7,  section  4,  was  re 
sumed. 

Mr.  Sherman  was  for  leaving  the  clause  as 
it  stands.  He  disapproved  of  the  slave  trade ; 
yet,  as  the  States  were  now  possessed  of  the 
right  to  import  slaves,  as  the  public  good  did 
not  require  it  to  be  taken  from  them,  and  as  it 
was  expedient  to  have  as  few  objections  as 
possible  to  the  proposed  scheme  of  Govern 
ment,  he  thought  it  best  to  leave  the  matter 
ns  we  find  it.  He  observed  that  the  abolition 
of  slavery  seemed  to  be  going  on  in  the  United 
States,  and  that  the  good  sense  of  the  several 
States  would  probably,  by  degrees,  complete 
it.  He  urged  on  the  Convention  the  necessity 
of  despatching  its  business. 

Golf  Mason.  This  infernal  traffic  originated 
in  the  avarice  of  British  merchants.  The  Brit 
ish  Government  constantly  checked  the  at 
tempts  of  Virginia  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  The 
present  question  concerns  not  the  importing 
States  alone,  but  the  whole  Union.  The  evil 
of  having  slaves  was  experienced  during  the 
late  war.  Had  slaves  been  treated  as  they 
might  have  been  by  the  enemy,  they  would 
have  proved  dangerous  instruments  in  their 
hands.  But  their  folly  dealt  by  the  slaves  as 
it  did  by  the  Tories.  He  mentioned  the  dan 
gerous  insurrections  of  the  slaves  in  Greece 
and  Sicily;  and  the  instructions  given  by 
Cromwell  to  the  Commissioners  sent  to  Vir 
ginia,  to  arm  the  servants  and  slaves,  in  case 
other  means  of  obtaining  its  submission  should 
fail.  Maryland  and  Virginia,  he  said,  had  al 
ready  prohibited  the  importation  of  slaves,  ex 
pressly.  North  Carolina  had  done  the  same, 
in  substance.  All  this  would  be  in  vain,  if 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  be  at  liberty  to 
import.  The  Western  people  are  already  call 
ing  out  for  slaves  for  their  new  lands,  and  will 
fill  that  country  with  slaves,  if  they  can  be  got 
through  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Slavery 
discourages  arts  and  manufactures.  The  poor 
despise  labor  when  performed  by  slaves.  They 


prevent  the  emigration  of  whites,  who  really 
enrich  and  strengthen  a  country.  They  pro 
duce  the  most  pernicious  effect  on  manners. 
Every  master  of  slaves  is  born  a  petty  tyrant. 
They  bring  the  judgment  of  Heaven  on  a  coun 
try.  As  nations  cannot  be  rewarded  or  pun 
ished  in  the  next  world,  they  must  be  in  this. 
By  an  inevitable  chain  of  causes  and  effects, 
Providence  punishes  national  sins  by  national 
calamities.  He  lamented  that  some  of  our 
Eastern  brethren  had,  from  a  lust  of  gain,  em 
barked  in  this  nefarious  traffic.  As  to  the 
States  being  in  possession  of  the  right  to  im 
port,  this  was  the  case  with  many  other  rights, 
now  to  be  properly  given  up.  He  held  it  es 
sential,  in  every  point  of  view,  that  the  General 
Government  should  have  power  to  prevent  the 
increase  of  slavery. 

Mr.  Ellsworth,  as  he  had  never  owned  a 
slave,  could  not  judge  of  the  effects  of  slavery 
on  character.  He  said,  however,  that  if  it  was 
to  be  considered  in  a  moral  light,  we  ought  to 
go  further,  and  free  those  already  in  the  coun 
try.  As  slaves  also  multiply  so  fast  in  Virginia 
and  Maryland  that  it  is  cheaper  to  raise  than 
import  them,  whilst  in  the  sickly  rice  swamps 
foreign  supplies  are  necessary,  if  we  go  no  fur 
ther  than  is  urged,  we  shall  be  unjust  towards 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Let  us  not  in 
termeddle.  As  population  increases,  poor  la 
borers  will  be  so  plenty  as  to  render  slaves 
useless.  Slavery,  in  time,  will  not  be  a  speck 
in  our  country.  Provision  is  already  made  in 
Connecticut  for  abolishing  it.  And  the  aboli 
tion  has  already  taken  place  in  Massachusetts. 
As  to  the  danger  of  insurrections  from  foreign 
influence,  that  will  become  a  motive  to  kind 
treatment  of  the  slaves. 

Mr.  Pinckney.  If  slavery  be  wrong,  it  is 
justified  by  the  example  of  all  the  world.  He 
cited  the  cases  of  Greece,  Rome,  and  other 
ancient  States  ;  the  sanction  given  by  France, 
England,  Holland,  and  other  modern  States. 
In  all  ages,  one-half  of  mankind  have  been 
slaves.  If  the  Southern  States  were  let  alone, 
they  will  probably  of  themselves  stop  importa 
tion.  He  would  himself,  as  a  citizen  of  South 
Carolina,  vote  for  it.  An  attempt  to  take  away 
the  right,  as  proposed,  will  produce  serious  ob 
jections  to  the  Constitution,  which  he  wished 
to  see  adopted.  Gen.  Pinckney  declared  it  to 
be  his  firm  opinion,  that  if  himself  and  all  his 
colleagues  were  to  sign  the  Constitution,  and 
use  their  personal  influence,  it  would  be  of  no 
avail  towards  obtaining  the  assent  of  their 
constituents.  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
cannot  do  without  slaves.  As  to  Virginia,  she 
will  gain  by  stopping  the  importations.  Her 
slaves  will  rise  in  value,  and  she  has  more  than 
she  wants.  It  would  be  unequal  to  require 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  to  confederate  on 
such  unequal  terms.  He  said  the  royal  assent, 
before  the  Revolution,  had  never  been  refused 
to  South  Carolina,  as  to  Virginia.  He  con 
tended  that  the  importation  of  slaves  would  be 
for  the  interest  of  the  whole  Union.  The  more 
slaves,  the  more  produce  to  employ  the  carry 
ing  trade;  the  more  consumption  also;  and 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


17 


the  more  of  this,  the  more  revenue  for  the  com 
mon  treasury.  He  admitted  it  to  be  reasona 
ble  that  slaves  should  be  dutied,  like  other  im 
ports  ;  but  should  consider  a  rejection  of  the 
clause  as  an  exclusion  of  South  Carolina  from 
the  Union. 

Mr.  Baldwin  had  conceived  national  objects 
alone  to  be  before  the  Convention — not  such 
as,  like  the  present,  were  of  a  local  nature. 
Georgia  was  decided  on  this  point.  That  State 
has  always  hitherto  supposed  a  General  Gov 
ernment  to  be  the  pursuit  of  the  central  States, 
who  wished  to  have  a  vortex  for  everything; 
that  her  distance  would  preclude  her  from 
equal  advantage,  and  that  she  could  not  pru 
dently  purchase  it  by  yielding  national  powers. 
From  this,  it  might  be  understood  in  what 
light  she  would  view  an  attempt  to  abridge 
one  of  her  favorite  prerogatives.  If  left  to  her 
self,  she  may  probably  put  a  stop  to  the  evil. 
As  one  ground  for  this  conjecture,  he  took 

notice  of  the  sect  of ,  which  he  said  was  a 

respectable  class  of  people,  who  carried  their 
ethics  beyond  the  mere  equality  of  men,  ex 
tending  their  humanity  to  the  claims  of  the 
whole  animal  creation. 

Mr.  Wilson  observed,  that  if  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  were  themselves  disposed  to  get 
rid  of  the  importation  of  slaves  in  a  short  time, 
as  had  been  suggested,  they  would  never  refuse 
to  unite  because  the  importation  might  be  pro 
hibited.  As  the  section  now  stands,  all  arti 
cles  imported  are  to  be  taxed.  Slaves  alone 
are  exempt.  This  is,  in  fact,  a  bounty  on  that 
article. 

Mr.  Gerry  thought  we  had  nothing  to  do 
with  the  conduct  of  the  States  as  to  slaves,  but 
ought  to  be  careful  not  to  give  any  sanction 
to  it. 

Mr.  Dickinson  considered  it  as  inadmissible, 
on  every  principle  of  honor  and  safety,  that 
the  importation  of  slaves  should  be  authorized 
to  the  States  by  the  Constitution.  The  true 
question  was,  whether  the  national  happiness 
would  be  promoted  or  impeded  by  the  import 
ation;  and  this  question  ought  to  be  left  to  the 
National  Government,  not  to  the  States  par 
ticularly  interested.  If  England  and  France 
permit  slavery,  slaves  are,  at  the  same  time, 
excluded  from  both  those  kingdoms.  Greece 
and  Rome  were  made  unhappy  by  their  slaves. 
He  could  not  believe  that  the  Southern  States 
would  refuse  to  confederate  on  the  account 
apprehended,  especially  as  the  power  was  not 
likely  to  be  immediately  exercised  by  the 
General  Government. 

Mr.  Williamson  stated  the  law  of  North  Car 
olina  on  the  subject — to  wit:  that  it  did  not 
directly  prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves.  It 
imposed  a  duty  of  £5  on  each  slave  imported 
from  Africa,  £10  on  each  from  elsewhere,  and 
£50  on  each  from  a  State  licensing  manumis 
sion.  He  thought  the  Southern  States  could 
not  be  members  of  the'  Union,  if  the  clause 
should  be  rejected;  and  that  it  was  wrong  to 
force  anything  down,  not  absolutely  necessary, 
and  which  any  State  must  disagree  to. 

Mr.  King  thought  the  subject  should  be  con-  i 
2 


;  sidered  in  a  political  light  only.    If  two  States 

will  not  agree  to  the  Constitution,  as  stated 

on  one  side,  he  could  affirm  with  equal  belief, 

on  the  other,  that  great  and  equal  opposition 

would  be  experienced  from  the  other  States. 

,  He  remarked  on  the  exemption  of  slaves  from 

:  duty,  whilst  every  other  import  was  subjected 

;  to  it,  as  an  inequality  that  could  not  fail  to 

!  strike  the  commercial  sagacity  of  the  North 

ern  and  Middle  States. 

Mr.  Langdon  was  strenuous  for  giving  the 
power  to  the  General  Government.  He  could 
I  not,  with  a  good  conscience,  leave  it  with  the 
j  States,  who  could  then  go  on  with  the  traffic, 
I  without  being  restrained  by  the  opinions  here 
I  given,  that  they  will  themselves  cease  to  im 
port  slaves. 

General  Pinckney  thought  himself  bound  to 
declare  candidly  that  he  did  not  think  South 
Carolina  would  stop  her  importation  of  slaves 
in  any  short  time;  but  only  stop  them  occa 
sionally,  as  she  now  does.  He  moved  to  com 
mit  the  clause,  that  slaves  might  be  made 
liable  to  an  equal  tax  with  other  imports ; 
which  He  thought  right,  and  which  would  re 
move  one  difficulty  that  had  been  started. 

Mr.  Rutledge.  If  the  Convention  thinks  that 
North  Carolina,,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia, 
will  never  agree  to  the  plan,  unless  their  right 
to  import  slaves  be  untouched,  the  expectation 
is  vain.  The  people  of  those  States  will  never 
be  such  fools  as  to  give  up  so  important  an 
interest.  He  was  strenuous  against  striking 
out  the  section,  and  seconded  the  motion  of 
General  Pinckney  for  a  commitment. 

Mr.  Gouvemeur  Morris  wished  the  whole 
subject  to  be  committed,  including  the  clauses 
relating  to  taxes  on  exports,  and  to  a  naviga 
tion  act.  These  things  may  form  a  bargain 
among  the  Northern  and  Southern  States. 

Mr.  Butler  declared  that  he  never  would 
agree  to  the  power  taxing  exports.  , 

Mr.  Sherman  said  it  was  better  to  let  the 
Southern  States  import  slaves  than  to  part 
with  them,  if  they  made  that  a  sine  qua  non. 
He  was  opposed  to  a  tax  on  slaves  imported, 
as  making  the  matter  worse,  because  it  implied 
they  were  property.  He  acknowledged  that  if 
the  power  of  prohibiting  the  importation  should 
be  given  to  the  General  Government,  that  it 
would  be  exercised.  He  thought  it  would  be 
its  duty  to  exercise  the  power. 

Mr.  Read  was  for  the  commitment,  provided 
the  clause  concerning  ta,xes  on  exports  should 
also  be  commited. 

Mr.  Sherman  observed  that  that  clause  had 
been  agreed  to,  and  therefore  could  not  be 
committed. 

Mr.  Randolph  was  for  committing,  in  order 
that  some  middle  ground  might,  if  possible,  be 
found.  He  could  never  agree  to  the  clause  as 
it  stands.  He  would  sooner  risk  the  Constitu 
tion.  He  dwelt  on  the  dilemma  to  which  the 
Convention  was  exposed.  By  agreeing  to  the 
clause,  it  would  revolt  the  Quakers,  the  Meth 
odists,  and  many  others  in  the  States  having 
no  slaves.  On  the  other  hand,  two  States 
might  be«lost  to  the  Union.  Let  us,  then,  he 


18 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


said,  try  the  chances  of  a  commitment. — Pages 
1388  to  1396. 

The  report  of  the  committee  of  eleven  (see 
Friday,  the  24th)  being  'taken  up — 

General  Pinckney  moved  to  strike  out  the 
•words,  "  the  year  eighteen  hundred/7--  as  the 
year  limiting  the  importation  of  slaves :  and 
to  insert  the  words,  "  the  year  eighteen  hun 
dred  and  eight." 

Mr.  Gorham  seconded  the  motion. 

Mr.  Madison.  Twenty  years  will  produce 
all  the  mischief  that  can  be  apprehended  from 
the  liberty  to  import  slaves.  So  long  a  term 
will  be  more  dishonorable  to  the  American 
character,  than  to  say  nothing  about  it  in  the 
Constitution. 

On  the  motion,  Avhich  passed  in  the  affirm 
ative  : 

New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecti 
cut,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  aye;  7.  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Virginia,  no;  4. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  was  for  making  the 
clause  read  at  once,  "the  importation  of  slaves 
into  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Geor 
gia,  shall  not  be  prohibited,"  &c.  This,  he 
said,  would  be  most  fair,  and  would  avoid  the 
ambiguity  by  which,  under  the  power  with  re 
gard  to  naturalization,  the  liberty  reserved  to 
the  States  might  be  defeated.  He  wished  it  to 
be  known,  also,  that  this  part  of  the  Constitu 
tion  was  a  compliance  with  those  States.  If 
the  change  of  language,  however,  should  be 
objected  to  by  the  members  from  those  States, 
lie  should  not  urge  it. 

Col.  Mason  was  not  against  using  the  term 
"  slaves,"  but  against  naming  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  lest  it  should 
give  offence  to  the  people  of  those  States. 

Mr.  Sherman  liked  a  description  better  than 
the  terms  proposed,  which  had  been  declined 
by  the  old  Congress,  and  were  not  pleasing  to 
some  people. 

Mr.  Clymer  concurred  with  Mr.  Sherman. 

Mr.  Williamson  said,  that  both  in  opinion 
and  practice  he  was  against  slavery ;  but 
thought  it  more  in  favor  of  humanity,  from  a 
view  of  all  circumstances,  to  let  in  South  Car 
olina  and  Georgia  on  those  terms,  than  to  ex 
clude  them  from  the  Union. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  withdrew  his  mo 
tion. 

Mr.  Dickinson  wished  the  clause  to  be  con 
fined  to  the  States  which  had  not  themselves 
prohibited  the  importation  of  slaves;  and.  for 
that  purpose,  moved  to  amend  the  clause  so  as 
to  read:  "The  importation  of  slaves  into  such 
of  the  States  as  shall  permit  the  same,  shall 
not  be  prohibited  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
United  States  until  the  year  1808;"  which  was 
disagreed  to,  nem.  con. 

The  first  part  of  the  report  was  then  agreed 
to,  amended  as  follows: 

"The  migration  or  importation  of  such  per 
sons  as  the  several  States  now  existing  shall 
think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  the  Legislature  prior  to  the  year  1808." 

New  Hampshire,   Massachusetts,   Connecti 


cut,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  aye;  7.  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Delaware,  Virginia,  no ;  4. 

Mr.  Baldwin,  in  order  to  restrain  and  more 
explicitly  define  "the  average  duty,"  moved 
to  strike  out  of  the  second  part  the  words 
"average  of  the  duties  laid  on  imports,"  and 
insert,  "common  impost  on  articles  not  enu 
merated  ; "  which  was  agreed  to,  nem.  con. 

Mr.  Sherman  was  against  this  second  pa-rt; 
as  acknowledging  men  to  be  property,  by  tax 
ing  them  as  such,  under  the  character  of 
slaves. 

Mr.  King  and  Mr.  Langdon  considered  this 
as  the  price  of  the  first  part. 

Gen.  Pinckney  admitted  that  it  was  so, 

Col.  Mason.  Not  to  tax,  will  be  equivalent 
to  a  bounty  on  the  importation  of  slaves. 

Mr.  Gorham  thought  that  Mr.  Sherman 
should  consider  the  duty  not  as  implying  that 
slaves  are  property,  but  as  a  discouragement 
to  the  importation  of  them. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  remarked  that,  as  the 
clause  now  stands,  it  implies  that  the  Legisla 
ture  may  tax  freemen  imported. 

Mr.  Sherman,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Gorham,  ob 
served  that  the  smallness  of  the  duty  showed 
revenue  to  be  the  object,  not  the  discourage 
ment  of  the  importation. 

Mr.  MADISON  THOUGHT  IT  WRONG  TO 
ADMIT,  IN  THE  CONSTITUTION,  THE  IDEA 
THAT  THERE  COULD  BE  PROPERTY  IN 
MEN.  THE  REASON  OF  DUTIES  DID  NOT 
HOLD,  AS  SLAVES  ARE  NOT,  LIKE  MER 
CHANDISE,  CONSUMED,  &c.— Pages  142*7  to 
1430. 

Mr.  Pinckney,  urging  the  propriety  of  secu 
ring  the  benefit  of  the  habeas  corpus  in  the  most 
ample  manner,  moved  that  it  should  not  be 
suspended  but  on  the  most  urgent  occasions ; 
and  then  only  for  a  limited  time,  not  exceed 
ing  twelve  months. 

Mr.  Rutledge  was  for  declaring  the  habeas 
corpus  inviolate.  He  did  not  conceive  that  a 
suspension  could  ever  be  necessary,  at  the  same 
time,  through  all  the  States. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  moved  that  "the 
privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not 
be  suspended,  unless  where,  in  cases  of  rebel 
lion  or  invasion,  the  public  safety  may  require 
it." 

Mr.  Wilson  doubted  whether,  in  any  case,  a 
suspension  could  be  necessary;  as  the  discre 
tion  now  exists  with  Judges,  in  most  import 
ant  cases,  to  keep  in  jail  or  admit  to  bail. 

The  first  part  of  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris's 
motion,  to  the  word  "unless,"  was  agreed  to, 
nem.  con.  On  the  remaining  part : 

New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecti 
cut,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Vir 
ginia,  aye:  7.  North -Carolina,  South  Caroli 
na,  Georgia,  no;  3. — Pages  1441-2. 

Article  14  was  then  taken  up. 

General  Pinckney  "was  not  satisfied  with  it. 
He  seemed  to  wish  some  provision  should  be 
included  in  favor  of  property  in  slaves. 

On  the  question  on  article  14 : 

New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


19 


New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  aye ;  9.  South  Car 
olina,  no;  1.  Georgia,  divided. 

Mr.  Butler  and  Mr.  Pinckney  moved  to  re 
quire  "fugitive  slaves  and  servants  to  be  de 
livered  up  like  criminals." 

Mr.  Wilson.     This  would  oblige  the  Execu 
tive  of  the  State  to  do  it  at  the  public  expense. 
Mr.  Sherman  saw  no  more  propriety  in  the 
public  seizing  and  surrendering  a  slave  or  ser 
vant,  than  a  horse. 

Mr.  Butler  withdrew  his  proposition,  in  or 
der  that  some  particular  provision  might  be 
made,  apart  from  this  article. — Pages  144*7-8. 
General  Pinckney  said  it  was  the  true  inter 
est  of  the  Southern  States  to  have  no  regula 
tion  of  commerce;  but  considering  the  loss 
brought  on  the  commerce  of  the  Eastern  States 
by  the  Revolution,  their  liberal  conduct  to 
wards  the  views  *  of  South  Carolina,  and  the 
interest  the  weak  Southern  States  had  in  be 
ing  united  with  the  strong  Eastern  States,  he 
thought  it  proper  that  no  fetters  should  be 
imposed  on  the  power  of  making  commercial 
regulations;  and  that  his  constituents,  though 
prejudiced  against  the  Eastern  States,  would 
be  reconciled  to  this  liberality.  He  had  him 
self,  he  said,  prejudices  against  the  Eastern 
States  before  he  came  here,  but  would  ac 
knowledge  that  he  had  found  them  as  liberal 
and  candid  as  any  men  whatever. — Page  1451. 
The  report  of  the  committee  for  striking  out 
section  6,  requiring  two-thirds  of  each  House 
to  pass  a  navigation  act,  was  then  agreed  to, 
nem.  con. 

Mr.  Butler  moved  to  insert,  after  article  15, 
"If  any  person,  bound  to  service  or  labor  in 
any  of  the  United  States,  shall  escape  into  an 
other  State,  he  or  she  shall  not  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  in  consequence  of 
any  regulations  subsisting  in  the  State  to  which 
they  escape,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the 
person  justly  claiming  their  service  or  labor; " 
which  was  agreed  to,  nem.  con. — Page  1456. 

Mr.  Madison  moved  to  postpone  the  consid 
eration  of  the  amended  proposition,  in  order 
to  take  up  the  following: 

"The  Legislature  of  the  United  States,  when 
ever  two-thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem 
necessary,  or  on  the  application  of  two-thirds 
of  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  shall 
propose  amendments  to  this  Constitution, 
which  shall  be  valid  to  all  intents  and  pur 
poses  as  part  thereof,  when  the  same  shall 
have  been,  ratified  by  three-fourths,  at  least, 
of  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  or 
by  conventions  in  three-fourths  thereof,  as 
one  or  the  other  mode  of  ratification  may  be 
proposed  by  the  Legislature  of  the  United 
States." 

Mr.  Hamilton  seconded  the  motion. 
Mr.  Rutledge  said"  he  never  could  agree  to 

*  He  meant  the  permission  to  import  slaves.     An 
undemanding  on  the  two  subjects  of  navigation  and 
slavery  had  taken  place  between  those  parts  of  the  ! 
Union,  which  explains  the  vote  on  the  motion  depend 
ing,  as  well  as  the  language  of  General  Pinckney  and 


give  a  power  by  which  the  articles  relating  to 
slaves  might  be  altered  by  the  States  not  inter 
ested  in  that  property,  and  prejudiced  against 
it.  In  order  to  obviate  this  objection,  these 
words  were  added  to  the  proposition : 

"Provided,  That  no  amendments  which  may 
'  be  made  prior  to  the  year  1808  shall  in  any 
<  manner  affect  the  fourth  and  fifth  sections  of 
'  the  seventh  article." 

The  postponement  being  agreed  to, 
On  the  question  on  the  proposition  of  Mr. 
Madison  and  Mr.  Hamilton,  as  amended : 

Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  N.  Jersey,  Penn 
sylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  aye ;  9.      Delaware, 
no;  1.     New  Hampshire,  divided. — Page  1535. 
Article  1,  section  2: 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Randolph,  the  word  "ser 
vitude"  was  struck  out,  and  "service"  unani 
mously  inserted — the  former  being  thought  to 
express  the  condition  of  slaves,  and  the  latter 
the  obligations  of  free  persons. 

Mr.  Dickinson  and  Mr.  Wilson  moved  to 
strike  out  "and  direct  taxes,"  from  article  1, 
section  2,  as  improperly  placed  in  a  clause  re 
lating  merely  to  the  constitution  of  the  House 
of  Representatives. 

Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris.  The  insertion  here 
was  in  consequence  of  what  had  passed  on 
this  point — in  order  to  exclude  the  appearance 
of  counting  the  negroes  in  the  representation. 
The  including  of  them  may  now  be  referred  to 
the  object  of  direct  taxes,  and  incidentally  only 
to  that  of  representation. 

On  the  motion  to  strike  out  "and  direct 
taxes  "  from  this  place : 

New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  aye;  3. 
New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  no;  8. — Pages  1569-70. 

Article  4,  section  2,  (the  third  paragraph,) 
the  term  "legally"  was 'struck  out,  and  the 
words  "under  the  laws  thereof"  inserted,  after 
the  word  "State,"  in  compliance  with  the  wish 
of  some,  who  thought  the  term  "legal"  equiv 
ocal,  and  favoring  the  idea  that  slavery  was 
legal  in  amoral  view. — Page  1589. 

Mr.  Sherman  expressed  his  fears  that  three- 
iburths  of  the  States  might  be  brought  to  do 
;hings  fatal  to  particular  States — as  abolishing 
them  altogether,  or  depriving  them  of  their 
equality  in  the  Senate.  He  thought  it  reason 
able  that  the  proviso  in  favor  of  the  States 
mporting  slaves  should  be  extended,  so  as  to 
provide  that  no  State  should  be  affected  in  its 
internal  police,  or  deprived  of  its  equality  in 
the  Senate. — Pages  1590-91, 

Mr.  Sherman  moved,  according  to  his  idea 
above  expressed,  to  annex  to  the  end  of  the 
article  a  further  proviso,  "  that  no  State  shall, 
without  its  consent,  be  affected  in  its  internal 
police,  or  deprived  of  its  equal  suffrage  in  the 
Senate." 

Mr.  Madison.    Begin  with  these  special  pro 
visos,  and  every  State  will  insist  on  them,  for 
their  boundaries,  exports,  &c. 
On  motion  of  Mr.  Sherman: 
Connecticut,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  aye ;  3. 


20 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Car 
olina,  Georgia,  no;  8. — Page  1592. 


ELLIOTT'S  DEBATES,  VOL.  II. 

Debates  in   Virginia  Stale  Convention,  called  to 
.ratify  the  Constitution. 

Governor  Randolph.  I  am  informed,  and  I 
It  !'•  YC  rightly,  because  I  derive  my  informa 
tion  from  those  whose  knowledge  is  most  re 
spectable,  that  Virginia  is  in  a  very  unhappy 
position  with  respect  to  the  access  of  foes  by 
sea,  though  happily  situated  for  commerce. 
This  being  her  situation  by  sea,  let  us  look  at 
land.  She  has  frontiers  adjoining  the  States 
of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  North  Caro 
lina.  Two  of  those  States  have  declared  them 
selves  members  of  the  Union.  Will  she  be  in 
accessible  to  the  inhabitants  of  those  States  ? 
Cast  your  eyes  to  the  Western  country,  that 
is  inhabited  by  cruel  savages,  your  natural 
enemies.  Besides  their  natural  propensity  to 
barbarity,  they  may  be  excited  by  the  gold  of 
foreign  enemies  to  commit  the  most  horrid 
ravages  on  your  people.  Our  great  and  in 
creasing  population  is  one  remedy  to  this  evil  j 
but  being  scattered  thinly  over  so  extensive  a 
country,  how  difficult  is  it  to  collect  their 
strength  or  defend  the  country.  This  is  one 
point  of  weakness.  I  wish,  for  the  honor  of  my 
countrymen,  that  it  was  the  only  one.  There 
is  another  circumstance  which  renders  us  more 
vulnerable.  Are  we  not  weakened  by  the  pop 
ulation  of  those  whom  we  hold  in  slavery? 
The  day  may  come  when  they  may  make  im 
pression  upon  us.  Gentlemen  who  have  been 
long  accustomed  to  the  contemplation  of  the 
subject,  think  there  is  a  cause  of  alarm  in  this 
case.  The  number  of  those  people,  compared 
to  that  of  the  whites,  is  in  an  immense  pro 
portion:  their  number  amounts  to  236,000, 
that  of  the  whites  only  to  352,000. — Pages 
80,  81. 

Mr.  Mason.  We  are  told,  in  strong  lan 
guage,  of  dangers  to  which  we  will  be  exposed, 
unless  we  adopt  this  Constitution.  Among 
the  rest,  domestic  safety  is  said  to  be  in  danger. 
This  Government  does  not  attend  to  our  do 
mestic  safety.  It  authorizes  the  importation 
of  slaves  for  twenty  odd  years,  and  thus  con 
tinues  upon  us  that  nefarious  trade.  Instead 
of  securing  and  protecting  us,  the  continua 
tion  of  this  detestable  trade  adds  daily  to  our 
weakness.  Though  this  evil  is  increasing, 
there  is  no  clause  in  the  Constitution  that  will 
prevent  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  from 
meddling  with  our  whole  property  of  that 
kind.  There  is  a  clause  to  prohibit  the  import 
ation  of  slaves  after  twenty  years ;  but  there  is 
no  provision  made  for  securing  to  the  South 
ern  States  those  they  now  possess.  It  is  far 
from  being  a  desirable  property.  But  it  will 
involve  us  in  great  difficulties  and  infelicity  to 
be  now  deprived  of  them.  There  ought  to  be 
a  clause  in  the  Constitution,  to  secure  us  that 
property  which  we  have  acquired  under  our 


former  laws,  and  the  loss  of  which  would  bring- 
ruin  on  a  great  many  people. 

Mr.  Lee,  of  Westmoreland.  The  honorable 
gentleman  aKominates  it,  because  it  does  not 
prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves,  and  because 
it  does  not  secure  the  continuance  of  the  exist 
ing  slavery!  Is  it  not  obviously  inconsistent 
to  criminate  it  for  two  contradictory  reasons? 
I  submit  it  to  the  consideration  of  the  gentle 
man,  whether,  if  it  be  reprehensible  in  the  one 
case,  it  can  be  censurable  in  the  other.  Mr. 
Lee  then  concluded,  by  earnestly  recommend 
ing  to  the  committee  to  proceed  regularly. — 
Page  212. 

Mr.  Pendleton.  I  am  unfortunate  enough 
to  differ  from  the  worthy  member  in  another 
circumstance.  He  professes  himself  an  advo 
cate  for  middling  and  lower  classes  of  men.  I 
profess  to  be  a  friend  to  the  equal  liberty  of  all 
men — from  the  palace  to  the  cottage — without 
any  other  distinction  than  between  good  and 
bad  men.  I  appeal  to  my  public  life  and  pri 
vate  behaviour,  to  decide  whether  I  departed 
from  this  rule.  Since  distinctions  have  been 
brought  forth  and  communicated  to  the  audi 
ence,  and  will  be  therefore  disseminated,  I  beg 
gentlemen  to  take  with  them  this  observation, 
that  distinctions  have  been  produced  by  the 
opposition.  From  the  friends  of  the  new  Gov 
ernment  they  have  heard  none.  None  such 
are  to  be  found  in  the  organization  of  the  pa 
per  before  me. 

Why  bring  into  the  debate  the  whims  of 
writers — introducing  the  distinction  of  well 
born  from  others  ?  I  consider  every  man  well 
born  who  comes  into  the  world  with  an  intel 
ligent  mind,  and  with  all  his  parts  perfect.  I 
am  an  advocate  for  fixing  our  Government  on 
true  republican  principles,  giving  to  the  poor 
man  free  liberty  in  his  person  and  property. — 
Page  212. 

Mr.  Henry.  It  is  exceedingly  painful  to  me 
to  be  objecting,  but  I  must  make  a  few  obser 
vations.  I  shall  not  again  review  the  cata 
logue  of  dangers  which  the  honorable  gentle 
man  entertained  us  with.  They  appear  to  me 
absolutely  imaginary.  They  have,  in  my  con 
ception,  been  proved  to  be  such.  But  sure  I 
am,  that  the  dangers  of  this  system  are  real, 
when  those  who  have  no  similar  interests  with 
the  people  of  this  country  are  to  legislate  for 
us — when  our  dearest  interests  are  left  in  the 
.power  of  those  whose  advantage  it  may  be  to 
infringe  them.  How  will  the  quotas  of  troops 
be  furnished?  Hated  as  requisitions  are,  your 
Federal  officers  cannot  collect  troops  like  dol 
lars,  and  carry  them  in  their  pockets.  You 
must  make  those  abominable  requisitions  for 
them,  and  the  scale  will  be  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  your  blacks  as  well  as  your  whites, 
unless  they  violate  the  constitutional  rule  of 
apportionment.  This  is  not  calculated  to  rouse 
the  fears  of  the  people.  It  is  founded  in  truth. 
How  oppressive  and  dangerous  must  this  be  to 
the  Southern  States,  who  alone  have  slaves ! 
This  will  render  their  proportion  infinitely 
greater  than  that  of  the  Northern  States.  It 
has  been  openly  avowed  that  this  shall  be  the 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


21 


rule.  1  will  appeal  to  the  judgments  of  the 
committee,  whether  there  be  danger. — Pages 
240,  241. 

Mr.  Henry.  He  told  gentlemen  that  these 
clauses  were  sufficient  to  shake  all  their  impli 
cation.  For,  says  he,  if  Congress  had  no  power 
but  what  was  given  to  them,  why  restrict  them 
by  negative  words?  Is  not  the  clear  implica 
tion  this — that  if  these  restrictions  were  not 
inserted,  they  could  have  performed  what  they 
prohibit?  The  worthy  member  had  said  that 
Congress  ought  to  have  power  to  protect  all, 
and  had  given  tWs  system  the  highest  enco 
mium;  but  still  insisted  that  the  power  over 
the  militia  was  concurrent.  To  obviate  the 
futility  of  this  doctrine,  Mr.  Henry  alleged  that 
it  was  not  reducible  to  practice.  Examine  it, 
says  he,  reduce  it  to  practice.  Suppose  an 
insurrection  in  Virginia,  and  suppose  there  be 
danger  apprehended  of  an  insurrection  in  an 
other  State,  from  the  exercise  of  the  Govern 
ment;  or,  suppose  a  national  war,  and  there 
be  discontent  among  the  people  of  this  State, 
that  produces  or  threatens  an  insurrection; 
suppose  Congress,  in  either  case,  demands  a 
nun^ber  of  militia,  will  they  not  be  obliged  to 
go  ?  Where  are  your  reserved  rights,  when 
your  militia  go  to  a  neighboring  State  ?  Which 
call  is  to  be  obeyed,  the  Congressional  call,  or 
the  call  of  the  State  Legislature  ?  The  call  of 
Congress  must  be  obeyed.  I  need  not  remind 
this  committee,  that  the  sweeping  clause  will 
cause  their  demands  to  be  submitted  to.  This 
clause  enables  them  uto  make  all  laws  which 
shall  be  necessary  and  proper  to  carry  into 
execution  all  the  powers  vested  by  this  Consti 
tution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
or  in  any  department  or  officer  thereof."  Mr. 
Chairman,  I  will  turn  to  another  clause,  which 
relates  to  the  same  subject,  and  tends  to  show 
the  fallacy  of  their  argument.  The  tenth  sec 
tion  of  the  first  article,  to  which  reference  was 
made  by  the  worthy  member,  militates  against 
himself.  It  says,  that  "no  State  shall  engage 
in  war,  unless  actually  invaded."  If  you  give 
this  clause  a  fair  construction,  what  is  the  true 
meaning  of  it  ?  What  does  this  relate  to  ?  Not 
domestic  insurrections,  but  war.  If  the  coun 
try  be  invaded,  a  State  may  go  to  war,  but 
cannot  suppress  insurrections.  If  there  should 
happen  an  insurrection  of  slaves,  the  country 
cannot  be  said  to  be  invaded.  They  cannot 
therefore  suppress  it,  without  the  interposition 
of  Congress.  The  fourth  section  of  the  fourth 
article  expressly  directs,  that  in  case  of  domes 
tic  violence,  Congress  shall  protect  the  State, 
on  application  of  the  Legislature  or  Executive ; 
and  the  eighth  section  of  the  first  article  gives 
Congress  power  to  call  forth  the  militia,  to 
quell  insurrections.  There  cannot,  therefore, 
be  a  concurrent  power.  The  State  Legislatures 
ought  to  have  power  to  call  forth  the  efforts  of 
militia,  when  necessary.  Occasions  for  call 
ing  them  out  may  be  urgent,  pressing,  and  in 
stantaneous.  The  States  cannot  now  call  them, 
let  an  insurrection  be  ever  so  perilous,  without 
an  application  to  Congress.  So  long  a  delay 
may  be  fatal. — Page  315. 


Mr.  G.  Nicholas.  Another  worthy  member 
says  there  is  no  power  in  the  States  to  quell 
an  insurrection  of  slaves.  Have  they  it  now  ? 
If  they  have,  does  the  Constitution  take  it 
away?  If  it  does,  it  must  be  in  one  of  the 
three  clauses  which  have  been  mentioned  by 
the  worthy  member.  The  first  clause  gives 
the  General  Government  power  to  call  them 
out  when  necessary.  Does  this  take  it  away 
from  the  States?  No;  but  it  gives  an  addi 
tional  security;  for,  beside  the  power  in  the 
State  Governments  to  use  their  own  militia,  it 
will  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Government  to 
aid  them  with  the  strength  of  the  Union  when 
called  for.  No  part  of  this  Constitution  can 
show  that  this  power  is  taken  away. 

But  an  argument  is  drawn  from  that  clause 
which  says  that  "No  State  shall  engage  in  war 
unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent 
danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay?  What 
does  this  prohibition  amount  to?  It  must  be 
a  war  with  a  foreign  enemy  that  the  States  are 
prohibited  from  making,  for  the  exception  to 
the  restriction  proves  it.  The  restriction  in 
cludes  only  offensive  hostility,  as  they  are  at 
liberty  to  engage  in  war  when  invaded,  or  in 
imminent  danger.  They  are  therefore  not  re 
strained  from  quelling  domestic  insurrections, 
which  are  totally  different  from  making  war 
with  a  foreign  Power.  But  the  great  thing  to 
be  dreaded  is,  that  during  an  insurrection,  the 
militia  will  be  called  out  from  the  State.  This 
is  his  kind  of  argument.  Is  it  possible  that  at 
such  a  time  the  General  Government  would 
order  the  militia  to  be  called?  It  is  a  ground 
less  objection,  to  work'on  gentlemen's  appre 
hensions  within  these  walls.  As  to  the  fourth 
article,  it  was  introduced  wholly  for  the  par 
ticular  aid  of  the  States.  A  republican  form 
of  government  is  guarantied,  and  protection 
is  secured  against  invasion  and  domestic  vio 
lence,  on  application.  Is  not  this  a  guard  as 
strong  as  possible?  Does  it  not  exclude  the 
unnecessary  interference  of  Congress  in  busi 
ness  of  this  sort? — Page  318. 

SEC.  9.  The  migration  or  Importation  of 
such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing 
shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  pro 
hibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight;  but  a  tax 
or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  importation, 
not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 

Mr.  George  Mason.  Mr.  Chairman,  this  is 
a  fatal  section,  which  has  created  more  dan 
gers  than  any  other.  The  first  clause  allows 
the  importation  of  slaves  for  twenty  years. 
Under  the  Royal  Government  thie  evil  was 
looked  upon  as  a  great  oppression,  and  many 
attempts  were  made  to  prevent  it;  but  the  in 
terest  of  the  African  merchants  prevented  its 
prohibition.  No  sooner  did  the  Revolution 
take  place,  than  it  was  thought  of.  It  \V;LS 
one  of  the  great  causes  of  our  separation  ;Vu;n 
Great  Britain.  Its  exclusion  has  been  a  prin 
cipal  object  of  this  State  and  most  of  the 
States  in  the  Union.  The  augmentation  '..f 
slaves  weakens  the  States,  and  such  a  trade  is 
diabolical  in  itself  and  disgraceful  to  uumku; d. 


22 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


Yet,  by  this  Constitution,  it  is  continued  for 
twenty  years.  As  much  as  I  value  an  union  of 
all  the  States,  I  would  not  admit  the  Southern 
States  into  the  Union,  unless  they  agree  to  the 
discontinuance  of  this  disgraceful  trade,  be 
cause  it  would  bring  weakness  and  not  swength 
to  the  Union.  And,  though  this  infamous 
traffic  be  continued,  we  have  no  security  for 
the  property  of  that  kind  which  we  have  al 
ready.  There  is  no  clause  in  this  Constitution 
to  secure  it;  for  they  may  lay  such  tax  as  wil 
amount  to  manumission.  And  should  the 
Government  be  amended,  still  this  detestable 
kind  of  commerce  cannot  be  discontinued  till 
after  the  expiration  of  twenty  years ;  for  the 
fifth  article,  which  provides  for  amendments 
expressly  excepts  this  clause.  I  have  ever 
looked  upon  this  as  a  most  disgraceful  thing 
to  America.  I  cannot  express  my  detestation 
of  it.  Yet  they  have  not  secured  us  the  prop 
erty  of  the  slaves  we  have  already;  so  that 
"  they  have  done  what  they  ought  not  to  have 
done,  and  have  left  undone  what  they  ought 
to  have  done." 

Mr.  Madison.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  should  con 
ceive  this  clause  to  be  impolitic,  if  it  were  one 
of  the  things  which  could  be  excluded  without 
encountering  greater  evils.  The  Southern 
States  would  not  have  entered  into  the  Union 
of  America,  without  the  temporary  permission 
of  that  trade;  and  if  they  were  excluded  from 
the  Union,  the  consequences  might  be  dreadful 
to  them  and  to  us.  We  are  not  in  a  worse 
situation  than  before.  That  traffic  is  prohibited 
by  our  laws,  and  we  may  continue  the  prohi 
bition.  The  Union  in  general  is  not  in  a  worse 
situation.  Under  the  Articles  of  Confederation 
it  might  be  continued  forever;  but  by  this 
clause  an  end  may  be  put  to  it  after  twenty 
years.  There  is,  therefore,  an  amelioration  of 
our  circumstances.  A  tax  may  be  laid  in  the 
mean  time;  but  it  is  limited,  otherwise  Con 
gress  might  lay  such  a  tax  as  would  amount  to 
a  prohibition.  From  the  mode  of  representa 
tion  and  taxation,  Congress  cannot  lay  such  a 
tax  on  slaves  as  will  amount  to  manumission. 
Another  clause  secures  us  that  property  which 
we  now  possess.  At  present,  if  any  slave 
elopes  to  any  of  those  States  where  slaves  are 
free,  he  becomes  emancipated  by  their  laws ; 
for  the  laws  of  the  States  are  uncharitable  to 
one  another  in  this  respect.  But  in  this  Con 
stitution,  "No  person  held  to  service  or  labor 
in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping 
into  another,  shall,  in  consequence  of  any  law 
or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such 
service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on 
claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  may  be  due."  This  clause  was  expressly 
inserted  to  enable  owners  of  slaves  to  reclaim 
them.  This  is  a  better  security  than  any  that 
now  exists.  No  power  is  given  to  the  General 
Government  to  interfere  with  respect  to  the 
property  in  slaves  now  held  by  the  States. 
The  taxation  of  this  State  being  equal  only  to 
its  representation,  such  a  tax  cannot  be  laid 
as  he  supposes.  They  cannot  prevent  the  im 
portation  of  slaves  for  twenty  years,  but  after 


that  period  they  can.  The  gentlemen  fiom 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia  argued  in  this 
menner:  "We  have  now, liberty  to  import  this 
species  of  property,  and  much  of  the  property 
now  possessed  has  been  purchased  or  other 
wise  acquired  in  contemplation  of  improving 
it  by  the  assistance  of  imported  slaves.  What 
would  be  the  consequence  of  hindering  us 
from  it?  The  slaves  of  Virginia  would  rise  in 
value,  and  we  would  be  obliged  to  go  to  your 
markets."  I  need  not  expatiate  on  this  sub 
ject.  Great  as  the  evil  is,  a  dismemberment 
of  the  Union  would  be  worse.  If  those  States 
should  disunite  from  the  other  States,  for  not 
including  them  in  the  temporary  continuance 
of  this  traffic,  they  might  solicit  and  obtain  aid 
from  foreign  Powers. 

Mr.  Tyler  warmly  enlarged  on  the  impolicy, 
iniquity,  and  disgracefulness,  of  this  wicked 
traffic.  He  thought  the  reasons  urged  by  gen 
tlemen  in  defence  of  it  were  inconclusive  and 
ill-founded.  It  was  one  cause  of  the  com 
plaints  against  British  tyranny,  that  this  trade 
was  permitted.  The  Revolution  had  put  a 
period  to  it;  but  now  it  was  to  be  revived. 
He  thought  nothing  could  justify  it.  This 
temporary  restriction  on  Congress  militated, 
in  his  opinion,  against  the  arguments  of  gen 
tlemen  on  the  other  side,  that  what  was  not 
given  up  was  retained  by  the  States ;  for  that, 
if  this  restriction  had  not  been  inserted,  Con 
gress  could  have  prohibited  the  African  trade. 
The  power  of  prohibiting  it  was  not  expressly 
delegated  to  them;  yet  they  would  have  had 
it  by  implication,  if  this  restraint  had  not  been 
provided.  This  seemed  to  him  to  demonstrate 
most  clearly  the  necessity  of  restraining  them,  by 
a  bill  of  rights,  from  infringing  our  inalienable 
rights.  It  was  immaterial  whether  the  bill  of 
rights  was  by  itself,  or  included  in  the  Consti 
tution.  But  he  contended  for  it,  one  way  or 
the  other.  It  would  be  justified  in  our  own 
example,  and  that  of  England.  His  earnest 
desire  was,  that  it  should  be  handed  down  to 
posterity,  that  he  had  opposed  this  wicked 
clause.— Pages  335,  336. 

Mr.  Madison  was  surprised  that  any  gentle 
man  should  return  to  the  clauses  which  had 
already  been  discussed.  He  begged  the  gen 
tleman  to  read  the  clauses  which  gave  the 
power  of  exclusive  legislation,  and  he  might 
see  that  nothing  could  be  done  without  the 
consent  of  the  States.  With  respect  to  the 
supposed  operation  of  what  was  denominated 
the  sweeping  clause,  the  gentleman,  he  said, 
was  mistaken;  for  it  only  extended  to  the 
enumerated  powers.  Should  Congress  attempt 
o  extend  it  to  any  power  not  enumerated,  it 
would  not  be  warranted  by  the  clause.  As  to 
he  restriction  in  the  clause  under  considera- 
iori,  it  was  a  restraint  on  the  exercise  of  a 
jower  expressly  delegated  to  Congress,  viz: 
hat  of  regulating  commerce  with  foreign 
nations. 

Mr.  Henry  insisted  that  the  insertion  of 
hese  restrictions  on  Congress  was  a  plain 
lemonstration  that  Congress  should  exercise 
owers  by  implication.  The  gentleman  had 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


23 


admitted  that  Congress  could  have  interdicted 
the  African  trade,  were  it  not  for  this  restric 
tion.  If  so,  the  power,  not  having  been  ex 
pressly  delegated,  must  be  obtained  by  impli 
cation.  He  demanded,  where,  then,  was  their 
doctrine  of  reserved  rights?  He  wished  for 
negative  clauses,  to  prevent  them  from  assum 
ing  any  powers  but  those  expressly  given.  He 


twenty  years.  It  could  not,  therefore,  have 
been  a  power  by  implication,  as  the  restriction 
was  an  exception  from  a  delegated  power. 
The  taxes  could  not,  as  had  been  suggested. 
be  laid  so  high  on  negroes  as  to  amount  to 
emancipation;  because  taxation  and  repre 
sentation  were  fixed  according  to  the  census 
established  in  the  Constitution.  The  excr  •>- 


asked  why  it  was  omitted  to  secure  us  that   tion  of  taxes  from  the  uniformity  annexed  to 


property  in  slaves  which  we  hold  now?  He 
feared  its  omission  was  done  with  design. 
They  might  lay  such  heavy  taxes  on  slaves  as 
would  amount  to  emancipation,  and  theu  the 
Southern  States  would  be  the  only  sufferers. 
His  opinion  was  confirmed  by  the  mode  of 
levying  money.  Congress,  he  observed,  had 
power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  imposts,  and 
excises.  Imposts  (or  duties)  and  excises  were 
to  be  uniform.  But  this  uniformity  did  not 
extend  to  taxes.  This  might  compel  the  South 
ern  States  to  liberate  their  negroes.  He  wished 
this  property,  therefore,  to  be  guarded.  He 
considered  the  clause  which  had  been  adduced 
by  the  gentleman  as  a  security  for  this  property, 
as  no  security  at  all.  It  was  no  more  than 
this — that  a  runaway  negro  could  be  taken  up 
in  Maryland  or  New  York.  This  could  not 
prevent  Congress  from  interfering  with  that 
property,  by  laying  a  grievous  and  enormous 
tax  on  it,  so  as  to  compel  owners  to  emanci 
pate  their  slaves  rather  than  pay  the  tax.  He 
apprehended  it  would  be  productive  of  much 
stock-jobbing,  and  that  they  would  play  into 
one  another's  hands  in  such  a  manner  as  that 
this  property  would  be  lost  to  the  country. 

Mr.  George  Nicholas  wondered  that  gentle 
men  who  were  against  slavery  would  be  op 
posed  to  this  clause ;  as,  after  that  period,  the 


/duties  and  excises,  could  not  have  the  opera 
tion  contended  for  by  the  gentlemen;  becMu.?c. 
other  clauses  had  clearly  and  positively  fixed 
the  census.  Hud  taxes  been  uniform,  it  would 
have  been  universally  objected  to;  for  no  on: 
object  could  be  selected  without  involving 
great  inconveniences  and  oppressions.  Biu, 
says  Mr.  Nicholas,  is  it  from  the  General  Gov- 
vernment  we  are  to  fear  emancipation?  Gen 
tlemen  will  recollect  what  I  said  in  another 
House,  and  what  other  gentlemen  have  said 
that  advocated  emancipation.  Give  me  leave 
to  say,  that  that  clause  is  a  great  security  for 
our  slave  tax.  I  can  tell  the  committee  that 
the  people  of  our  country  are  reduced  to  beg 
gary  by  the  taxes  on  negroes.  Had  this  Con 
stitution  been  adopted,  it  would  not  have  been 
the  case.  The  taxes  were  laid  on  all  our  ne 
groes.  By  this  system,  two-fifths  are  exempted. 
He  then  added,  that  he  had  imagined  gentle 
men  would  not  support  here  what  they  had 
opposed  in  another  place. 

Mr.  Henry  replied,  that  though  the  propor 
tion  of  each  was  to  be  fixed  by  the  census,  and 
three-fifths  of  the  slaves  only  were  included 
in  the  enumeration,  yet  the  proportion  of  Vir 
ginia,  being  once  fixed,  might  be  laid  on  blacks, 
and  blacks  only;  for  the  mode  of  raising  the 
proportion  of  each  State  being  to  be  directed 


slave  trade  would  be  done  away.  He  asked  if  j  by  Congress,  they  might  make  slaves  the  sole 
gentlemen  did  not  seethe  inconsistency  of  their  object  to  raise  it.  Personalities  he  wished  to 
arguments?  They  object,  says  he,  to  the  Con-  take  leave  of;  they  had  nothing  to  do  with 
stitution,  because  the  slave  trade  is  laid  open  j  the  question,  which  was  solely  whether  that 
for  twenty  odd  years;  and  yet  tell  you  that,  |  paper  was  wrong  or  not. 
by  some  latent  operation  of  it,  the  slaves,  who 


are  so  now,  will  be  manumitted.  At  the  same 
moment  it  is  opposed  for  being  promotive  and 
destructive  of  slavery.  He  contended  that  it 
was  advantageous  to  Virginia  that  it  should 
be  in  the  power  of  Congress  to  prevent  the  im 
portation  of  slaves  after  twenty  years,  as  it 
would  then  put  a  period  to  the  evil  complained 
of.  As  the  Southern  States  would  not  con 
federate  without  this  clause,  he  asked  if  gen 
tlemen  would  rather  dissolve  the  Confederacy 


Mr.  Nicholas  replied,  that  negroes  must  be 
considered  as  persons  or  property.  If  as  prop 
erty,  the  proportion  of  taxes  to  be  laid  on  them 
was  fixed  in  the  Constitution.  If  he  appre 
hended  a  poll  tax  on  negroes,  the  Constitution 
had  prevented  it;  for,  by  the  census,  where  a 
white  man  paid  ten  shillings,  a  negro  paid 
but  six  shillings ;  for  the  exemption  of  two- 
fifths  of  them  reduced  it  to  that  proportion. — 


Page  337. 

Mr.  George  Mason  said,  that  gentlemen  might 
than  to  suffer  this  temporary  inconvenience,  ;  think  themselves  secured  by  the  restriction  in 


admitting  it  to  be  such?  Virginia  might  con-  the  fourth  clause,  that  no  capitation  or  other 
tinue  the  prohibition  of  such  importation  du-  j  direct  tax  should  be  laid,  but  in  proportion  to 
ring  the  intermediate  period,  and  would  be  \  the  census  before  directed  to  be  taken;  but 
benefitted  by  it,  as  a  tax  of  ten  dollars  on  each  ;  that,  when  maturely  considered,  it  would  be 
slave  might  be  laid,  of  which  she  would  receive  '  found  to  be  no  security  whatever.  It  was 
a  share.  He  endeavored  to  obviate  the  objec-  j  nothing  but  a  direct  assertion,  or  mere  con- 
tion  of  gentlemen,  that  the  restriction  on  Con-  '  firmation,  of  the  clause  which  fixed  the  ratio 
gress  was  a  proof  that  they  would  have  power  '  of  taxes  and  representation.  It  only  meant 
not  given  them,  by  remarking  that  they  would  ;  that  the  quantum  to  be  raised  of  each  State 
only  have  had  a  general  superintendency  of  j  should  be  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  in 
trade,  if  the  restriction  had  not  been  inserted,  j  the  manner  therein  directed ;  but  the  General 
But  the  Southern  States  insisted  on  this  ex-  j  Government  was  not  precluded  from  laying 
ception  to  that  general  superintendency  for  '  the  proportion  of  any  particular  State  on  any 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


one  species  of  property  they  might  thiiik  proper. 
For  instance,  if  five  hundred  thousand  dollars 
were  to  be  raised,  they  might  lay  the  whole  of 
the  proportion  of  the  Southern  States  on  the 
blacks,  or  any  one  species  of  property;  so  that, 
by  laying  taxes  too  heavily  on  slaves,  they 
might  totally  annihilate  that  kind  of  property. 
No  real  security  could  arise  from  the  clause, 
which  provides  that  persons  held  to  labor  in 
one  State,  escaping  into  another,  shall  be  de 
livered  up.  This  only  meant  that  runaway 
slaves  should*  not  be  protected  in  other  States. 
As  to  the  exclusion  of  ex  post  facto  laws,  it 
could  not  be  said  to  create  any  security  in  this 
case;  for  laying  a  tax  on  slaves  would  not  be 
ex  post  facto. 

Mr.  Madison  replied,  that  even  the  Southern 
States,  wrho  were  most  affected,  were  perfectly 
satisfied  with  this  provision,  and  dreaded  no 
danger  to  the  property  they  now  hold.  It  ap 
peared  to  him  that  the  General  Government 
would  not  intermeddle  with  that  property  for 
twenty  years,  but  to  lay  a  tax  on  every  slave 
imported,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars;  and  that 
after  the  expiration  of  that  period,  they  might 
prohibit  the  traffic  altogether.  The  census  in 
the  Constitution  was  intended  to  introduce 
equality  in  the  burdens  to  be  laid  on  the  com 
munity.  No  gentleman  objected  to  laying  du 
ties,  imposts,  and  excises,  uniformly ;  but  uni 
formity  of  taxes  would  be  subversive  to  the 
principles  of  equality;  for  that  it  was  not  pos 
sible  to  select  any  article  which  would  be  easy 
for  one  State,  but  what  would  be  heavy  for 
another;  that  the  proportion  of  each  State 
being  ascertained,  it  would  be  raised  by  the 
General  Government  in  the  most  convenient 
manner  for  the  people,  and  not  by  the  selection 
of  any  one  particular  object;  that  there  must 
be  some  degree  of  confidence  put  in  agents, 
or  else  we  must  reject  a  state  of  civil  society 
altogether.  Another  great  security  to  this' 
property,  which  he  mentioned,  was,  that  five 
States  were  greatly  interested  in  that  species 
of  property ;  an'd  there  were  other  States  which 
had  some  slaves,  and  had  made  no  attempt  or 
taken  any  step  to  take  them  from  the  people. 
There  were  a  few  slaves  in  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  Connecticut;  these  States  would 
probably  oppose  any  attempts  to  annihilate 
this  species  of  property.  He  concluded,  by 
observing  that  he  would  be  glad  to  leave  the 
decision  of  this  to  the  committee. — Pages 
422,  423. 

Mr.  Henry.  Among  ten  thousand  implied 
powers  which  they  may  assume,  they  may,  if 
we  be  engaged  in  war,  liberate  every  one  of 
your  slaves,  if  they  please.  And  this  must  and 
will  be  done  by  men,  a  majority  of  whom  have 
not  a  common  interest  with  you.  They  will, 
therefore,  have  no  feeling  for  your  interests. 
It  has  been  repeatedly  said  here,  that  the  great 
object  of  a  National  Government  was  national 
defence.  That  power  which  is  said  to  be  in 
tended  for  security  and  safety,  may  be  rendered 
detestable  and  oppressive.  If  you  give  power 
to  the  General  Government  to  provide  for  the 
general  defence,  the  means  must  be  commen 


surate  to  the  end.  All  the  means  in  the  pos 
session  of  the  people  must  be  given  to  the 
Government  which  is  intrusted  with  the  pub 
lic  defence.  In  this  State  there  are  236,000 
blacks,  and  there  are  many  in  several  other 
States ;  but  there  are  few  or  none  in  the  North 
ern  States ;  and  yet,  if  the  Northern  States  shall 
be  of  opinion  that  our  numbers  are  numberless, 
they  may  call  forth  every  national  resource. 
May  Congress  not  say  that  every  black  man  must 
fight?  Did  we  not  see  a  little  of  this  last  war? 
We  were  not  so  hard  pushed  as  to  make  eman 
cipation  general;  but  acts  of  Assembly  passed, 
that  every  slave  who  would  'go  to  the  army 
should  be  free.  Another  thing  will  contribute 
to  bring  this  event  about:  slavery  is  detested — 
we  feel  its  fatal  effects — we  deplore  it  with  all 
the  pity  of  humanity.  Let  all  these  consider 
ations,  at  some  future  period,  press  with  full 
force  on  the  minds  of  Congress.  Let  that  hu 
manity,  which  I  trust  will  distinguish  America, 
and  the  necessity  of  national  defence — let  all 
these  things  operate  on  their  minds ;  they  will 
search  that  paper,  and  see  if  they  have  power 
of  manumission.  And  have  they  not,  sir? 
Have  they  not  power  to  provide  for  the  gene 
ral  defence  and  welfare?  May  they  not  think 
that  these  call  for  the  abolition  of  slavery? 
May  not  they  pronounce  all  slaves  free,  and 
will  they  not  be  warranted  by  that  power? 
There  is  no  ambiguous  implication  or  logical 
deduction.  The  paper  speaks  to  the  point. 
They  have  the  power,  in  clear,  unequivocal 
terms,  and  will  clearly  and  certainly  exercise 
it.  As  much  as  I  deplore  slavery,  I  see  that 
prudence  forbids  its  abolition.  I  deny  that 
the  General  Government  ought  to  set  them 
free  because  a  decided  majority  of  the  States 
have  not  the  ties  of  sympathy  and  fellow-feel 
ing  for  those  whose  interest  would  be  affected 
by  their  emancipation.  The  majority  of  Con 
gress  is  to  the  North,  and  the  slaves  are  to  the 
South.  In  this  situation,  I  see  a  great  deal  of 
the  property  of  the  people  of  Virginia  in  jeop 
ardy,  and  their  peace  and  tranquillity  gone. 
I  repeat  it  again,  that  it  would  rejoice  my  very 
soul,  that  every  one  of  my  fellow-beings  was 
emancipated.  As  we  ought,  with  gratitude, 
to  admire  that  decree  of  Heaven  which  has 
numbered  us  among  the  free,  we  ought  to  la 
ment  and  deplore  the  necessity  of  holding  our 
fellow-men  in  bondage.  But  is  it  practicable, 
by  any  human  means,  to  liberate  them,  with 
out  producing  the  most  dreadful  and  ruinous 
consequences?  We  ought  to  possess  them  in 
the  manner  we  have  inherited  them  from  our 
ancestors,  as  their  manumission  is  incompati 
ble  with  the  felicity  of  the  country;  but  we 
ought  to  soften,  as  much  as  possible,  the  rigor 
of  their  unhappy  fate.  I  know  that,  in  a  va 
riety  of  particular  instances,  the  Legislature, 
listening  to  complaints,  have  admitted  their 
emancipation.  Let  me  not  dwell  on  this  sub 
ject.  I  will  only  add,  that  this,  as  well  as 
every  other  property  of  the  people  of  Virginia, 
is  in  jeopardy,  and  put  in  the  hands  of  those 
who  have  no  similarity  of  situation  with  us. 
This  is  a  local  matter,  and  I  can  see  no  pro- 


THE   SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


25 


pricty  in  subjecting  it  to  Congress. — Page  431. 

Gov.  Randolph.  That  honorable  gentleman 
[Mr.  Henry]  and  some  others  have  insisted 
that  the  abolition  of  slavery  will  result  from 
it,  and  at  the  same  time  have  complained  that 
it  encourages  its  continuation.  The  incon 
sistency  proves,  in  some  degree,  the  futility  of 
their  arguments.  But  if  it  be  not  conclusive 
to  satisfy  the  committee  that  there  is  no  dan 
ger  of  enfranchisement  taking  place,  I  beg 
leave  to  refer  them  to  the  paper  itself.  I  hope 
that  there  is  none  here  who,  considering  the 
subject  in  the  calm  light  of  philosophy,  will 
advance  an  objection  dishonorable  to  Virginia; 
that  at  the  moment  they  are  securing  the  rights 
of  their  citizens,  an  objection  is  started,  that 
there  is  a  spark  of  hope  that  those  unfortunate 
men  now  held  in  bondage  may,  by  the  opera 
tion  of  the  General  Government,  be  made  free. 
But  if  any  gentleman  be  terrified  by  this  ap 
prehension,  let  him  read  the  system.  I  ask, 
and  I  will  ask  again  and  again,  till  I  be  an 
swered,  (not  by  declamation,)  Where  is  the  part 
that  has  a  tendency  to  the  abolition  of  slavery? 
Is  it  the  clause  which  says  that  "the  migration 
or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the 
States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  ad 
mit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  Congress  prior 
to  the  year  1808?"  This  is  an  exception  from 
the  power  of  regulating  commerce,  and  the  re 
striction  is  only  to  continue  till  1808.  Then 
,  Congress  can,  by  the  exercise  of  that  power,  pre 
vent  future  importations ;  but  does  it  affect  the 
existing  state  of  slavery?  Were  it  right  here 
to  mention  what  passed  in  Convention  on  the 
occasion,  I  might  tell  you  that  the  Southern 
States — even  South  Carolina  herself— conceived 
this  property  to  be  secure  by  these  words.  I 
believe,  whatever  we  may  think  here,  that  there 
was  not  a  member  of  the  Virginia  delegation 
who  had  the  smallest  suspicion  of  the  abolition 
of  slavery.  Go  to  their  meaning.  Point  out 
the  clause  where  this  formidable  power  of 
emancipation  is  inserted. 

But  another  clause  of  the  Constitution  proves 
the  absurdity  of  the  supposition.  The  words 
of  the  clause  are:  "No  person  held  to  service 
or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof, 
escaping  in4o  another,  shall,  in  consequence 
of  any  law  or  regulation  therein,  be  discharged 
from  such  service  or  labor,  but  shall  be  de 
livered  up,  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such 
service  or  labor  may  be  due."  Every  one 
knows  that  slaves  are  held  to  service  and  labor. 
And  when  authority  is  given  to  owners  of 
slaves  to  vindicate  their  property,  can  it  be 
supposed  they  can  be  deprived  of  it?  If  a  citi 
zen  of  this  State,  in  consequence  of  this  clause, 
can  take  his  runaway  slave  in  Maryland,  can 
it  be  seriously  thought  that,  after  taking  him 
aud  bringing  him  home,  he  could  be  made 
free?— Page  437. 

Mr.  Madison.  With  respect  to  the  amend 
ments  proposed  by  the  honorable  gentleman,  it 
ought  to  be  considered  how  far  they  are  good. 
As  far  as  they  are  palpably  and  insuperably 
objectionable,  they  ought  to  be  opposed.  One 
amendment  he  proposes  is,  that  any  army 


which  shall  be  necessary,  shall  be  raised  by 
the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  States.  I 
most  devoutly  wish  that  there  may  never  be 
an  occasion  of  having  a  single  regiment. 
There  can  be  no  harm  in  declaring  that  stand 
ing  armies  in  time  of  peace  are  dangerous  to 
liberty,  and  ought  to  be  avoided,  as  far  as  it 
may  be  consistent  with  the  protection  of  the 
community.  But  when  we  come  to  say  that 
the  national  security  vshall  depend,  not  on  a 
majority  of  the  people  of  America,  but  that  it 
may  be  frustrated  by  less  than  one-third  of  the 
people  of  America,  I  ask  if  this  be  a  safe  or 
proper  mode  ?  What  part  of  the  United  States 
are  most  likely  to  stand  in  need  of  this  pro 
tection?  The  weak  parts,  which  are  the  South 
ern  States.  Will  it  be  safe  to  leave  the  United 
States  at  the  mercy  of  one-third  of  the  States, 
a  number  which  may  comprise  a  very  small 
proportion  of  the  American  people?  They 
may  all  be  in  that  part  of  America  which  is 
least  exposed  to  danger.  As  far  as  a  remote 
situation  from  danger  would  render  exertions 
for  public  defence  less  active,  so  far  the  South 
ern  States  would  be  endangered. 

The  regulation  of  commerce,  he  further  pro 
posed,  should  depend  on  two-thirds  of  both 
Houses.  I  wish  I  could  recollect  the  history 
of  this  matter;  but  I  cannot  call  it  to  mind 
with  sufficient  exactness.  But  I  wel\  recollect 
the  reasoning  of  some  gentlemen  on  that  sub 
ject.  It  was  said,  and  I  believe  with  truth, 
that  every  part  of  America  does  not  stand  in 
equal  need  of  security.  It  was  observed  that 
the  Northern  States  were  most  competent  to 
their  own  safety.  Was  it  reasonable,  asked 
they,  that  they  should  bind  themselves  to  the 
defence  of  the  Southern  States,  and  still  be  left 
at  the  mercy  of  the  minority  for  commercial 
advantages?  Should  it  be  in  the  power  of  the 
minority  to  deprive  them  of  this  and  other  ad 
vantages,  when  they  are  bound  to  defend  the 
whole  Union,  it  might  be  a  disadvantage  for 
them  to  confederate. 

These  were  his  arguments.  This  policy  of 
guarding  against  political  inconveniences,  by 
enabling  a  small  part  of  the  community  to  op 
pose  the  Government,  and  subjecting  the  ma 
jority  to  a  small  minority,  is  fallacious.  In 
some  cases,  it  may  be  good;  in  others,  it  may 
be  fatal.  In  all  cases,  it  puts  it  in  the  power 
of  the  minority  to  decide  a  question  which 
concerns  the  majority. 

I  was  struck  with  surprise  when  I  heard 
him  express  himself  alarmed  with  respect  to 
the  emancipation  of  slaves.  Let  me  ask,  if 
they  should  even  attempt  it,  if  it  will  not  be 
an  usurpation  of  power?  There  is  no  power 
to  warrant  it,  in  that  paper.  If  there  be,  I 
know  it  not.  But  why  should  it  be  done? 
Says  the  honorable  gentleman,  for  the  general 
welfare ;  it  will  infuse  strength  into  our  sys 
tem.  Can  any  member  of  this  committee  sup 
pose  that  it  will  increase  our  strength  ?  Can 
any  one  believe  that  the  American  Councils 
will  come  into  a  measure  which  will  strip  them 
of  their  property,  discourage  and  alienate  the 
affections  of  five-thirteenths  of  the  Union? 


26 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


Why  was  nothing  of  this  sort  aimed  at  before? 
1  believe  such  an  idea  never  entered  into  any 
American  breast,  nor  do  I  believe  it  ever  will, 
unless  it  will  enter  into  the  heads  of  those  gen 
tlemen  who  substitute  unsupported  suspicions 
tor  reasons. — Page  452. 


ELLIOT'S  DEBATES— VOL.  III. 

Carolina  State  Convention,  called  to  ratify 
the  Constitution. 

First  clause  of  the  ninth  section  read. 
Mr.  J.  McDowall  wished  to  hear  the  reasons 
of  this  restriction. 

Mr.  Spa i ght  answered,  that  there  was  a 
contest  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States ; .  that  the  Southern  States,  whose  prin 
cipal  support  depended  on  the  labor  of  slaves, 
would  not  consent  to  the  desire  of  the  North 
ern  States  to  exclude  the  importation  of  slaves 
absolutely;  that  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
insisted  on  this  clause,  as  they  were  now  in 
want  of  hands  to  cultivate  their  lands ;  that  in 
the  course  of  twenty  years  they  would  be  fully 
supplied;  that  the  trade  would  be  abolished 
then,  and  that,  in  the  mean  time,  some  tax  or 
duty  might  be  laid  on. 

Mr.  McDowall  replied,  that  the  explanation 
was  just  such  as  he  expected,  and  \)j  no  means 
satisfactory  to  him,  and  that  he  looked  upon 
it  as  a  very  objectionable  part  of  the  system. 

Mr.  Iredell.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  rise  to  express 
sentiments  similar  to  those  of  the  gentleman 
from  Craven.  For  my  part,  were  it  practica 
ble  to  put  an  end  to  the  importation  of  slaves 
immediately,  it  would  give  me  the  greatest 
pleasure,  for  it  certainly  is  a  trade  utterly  in 
consistent  with  the  rights  of  humanity,  and 
under  which  great  cruelties  have  been  exer 
cised.  When  the  entire  abolition  of  slavery 
takes  place,  it  will  be  an  event  which  must  be 
pleasing  to  every  generous  mind  and  every 
friend  of  human  nature;  but  we  often  wish  for 
things  which  are  not  attainable.  It  was  the 
wish  of  a  great  majority  of  .the  Convention  to 
put  an  end  to  the  trade  immediately,  but  the 
States  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  would 
not  agree  to  it.  Consider,  then,  what  would 
be  the  difference  between  our  present  situation, 
in  this  respect,  if  we  do  not  agree  to  the  Con 
stitution,  and  what  it  will  be  if  we  do  agree 
to  it.  If  we  do  not  agree  to  it,  do  we  remedy 
the  evil?  No,  sir,  we  do  not;  for  if  the  Con 
stitution  be  not  adopted,  it  will  be  in  the  power 
of  every  State  to  continue  it  forever.  They 
may  or  may  not  abolish  it,  at  their  discretion. 
But  if  we  adopt  the,  Constitution,  the  trade 
must  cease  after  twenty  years,  if  Congress 
declare  so,  whether  particular  States  please  so 
or  riot.  Surely,  then,  we  gain  by  it.  This  was 
the  utmost  that  could  be  obtained.  I  heartily 
wish  more  could  have  been  done.  But  as  it 
is,  this  Gov6rnment  is  nobly  distinguished 
above  others  by  that  very  provision.  Where 
is  there  another  country  in  which  such  a  re 
striction  prevails?  WTe  therefore,  sir,  set  ar 
example  of  humanity,  by  providing  for  the 
abolition  of  this  inhuman  traffic,  though  at  a 


distant  period.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  this 
>art  of  the  Constitution  will  not  be  condemned, 
because  it  has  not  stipulated  for  what  it  was 
mpracticable  to  obtain. 

Mr.  Spaight  further  explained  the  clause: 
that  the  limitation  of  this  trade  to  the  term  of 
wenty  years,  was  a  compromise  between  the 
Eastern  States  and  the  Southern  States.  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  Avished  to  extend  the 
term ;  the  Eastern  States  insisted  on  the  entire 
abolition  of  the  trade.  That  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  had  not  thought  proper  to  pass  any 
law  prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves,  and 
therefore  its  delegation  in  the  Convention  did 
not  think  themselves  authorized  to  contend  for 
an  immediate  prohibition  of  it. 

Mr.  Iredell  added  to  what  he  had  said  before, 
that  the  States  of  Georgia  and  South  Carolina 
bad  lost  a  great  many  slaves  during  the  war, 
and  that  they  wished  to  supply  the  loss. 

Mr.  Galloway.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  explana 
tion  given  to  this  clause  does  not  satisfy  my 
mind.  I  wish  to  see  this  abominable  trade  put 
an  end  to.  But  in  case  it  be  thought  proper 
to  continue  this  abominable  traffic  for  twenty 
years,  yet  I  do  not  wish  to  see  the  tax  on  the 
importation  extended  to  all  persons  whatso 
ever.  Our  situation  is  different  from  the  peo 
ple  to  the  North.  We  want  citizens;  they  do 
not.  Instead  of  laying  a  tax,  we  ought  to 
give  a  bounty  to  encourage  foreigners  to  come 
among  us.  With  respect  to  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  it  requires  the  utmost  consideration. 
The  property  of  the  Southern  States  consists 
principally  of  slaves.  If  they  mean  to  do  away 
slavery  altogether,  this  property  will  be  de 
stroyed.  I  apprehend  it  means  to  bring  for 
ward  manumission.  If  we  must  manumit  our 
slaves,  what  country  shall  we  send  them  to? 
It  is  impossible  to  be  happy,  if,  after  manu 
mission,  they  are  to  stay  among  us. 

Mr.  Iredell.  Mr.  Chairman,  the  worthy  gen 
tleman,  I  believe,  has  misunderstood  this  clause, 
which  runs  in  the  following  words  :  "The  mi 
gration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any 
of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper 
to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Con 
gress  prior  to  the  year  1808,  but  a  tax  or  duty 
may  be  imposed  on  such  importation,  not  ex 
ceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person."  Now, 
sir,  observe  that  the  Eastern  States,  who  long 
ago  have  abolished  slavery,  did  not  approve  of 
the  expression,  slaves;  they  .therefore  used 
another  that  answered  the  same  purpose.  The 
committee  will  observe  the  distinction  between 
the  two  words,  migration  and  importation. 
The  first  part  of  the  clause  will  extend  to  per 
sons  who  come  into  the  country  as  free  people, 
or  are  brought  as  slaves ;  but  the  last  part 
extends  to  slaves  only.  The  word  migration 
refers  to  free  persons ;  but  the  word  importa 
tion  refers  to  slaves,  because  free  people  can 
not  be  said  to  be  imported.  The  tax,  there 
fore,  is  only  to  be  laid  on  slaves,  who  are 
imported,  and  not  on  free  persons,  who  migrate. 
I  further  beg  leave  to  say,  that  the  gentleman 
is  mistaken  in  another  thing.  He  seems  to 
say  that  this  extends  to  the  abolition  of  sla- 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFOKM. 


27 


very.  Is  there  anything  in  this  Constitution 
which  says  that  Congress  shall  have  it  in  their 
power  to  abolish  the  slavery  of  those  slaves 
who  are  now  in  the  country  ?  Is  it  not  the 
plain  meaning  of  it,  that  after  twenty  years 
they  may  prevent  the  future  importation  of 
slaves?  *It  does  not  extend  to  those  now  in 
the  country.  There  is  another  circumstance 
to  be  observed.  -There  is  no  authority  vested 
in  CongressHo  restrain  the  States,  in  the  in 
terval  of  twenty  years,  from  doing  what  they 
please.  If  they  wish  to  inhibit  such  importa 
tion,  they  may_jdo  so.  Our  next  Assembly 
may  put  an  entire  end  to  the  importation  of 
slaves. — Pages,  96,  97,  98. 

Article  fourth.  The  first  section,  and  two 
first  clauses  of  the  second  section,  read  without 
observation. 

The  last  clause  read. 

Mr.  Iredell  begged  leave  to  explain  the  rea 
son  of  this  clause.  In  some  of  the  Northern 
States  they  have  emancipated  all  their  slaves. 
If  any  of  our  slaves,  said  he,  go  there,  and  re 
main  there  a  certain  time,  they  would,  by  the 
present  laws,  be  entitled  to  their  freedom,  so 
that  their  masters  could  not  get  them  again. 
This  would  be  extremely  prejudicial  to  the  in*- 
habitants  of  the  Southern  States,  and,  to  pre 
vent  it,  this  clause  is  inserted  in  the  Constitu 
tion.  Though  the  word  slave  be  not  mentioned, 
this  is  the  meaning  of  it.  The  Northern  dele 
gates,  owing  to  their  particular  scruples  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  did  not  choose  the  word 
slave  to  be  mentioned. — Page  157. 

Mr.  Iredell.  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed, 
that  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in  the  ninth 
section  of  the  first  article  are  protected  from 
any  alteration  till  the  year  1808;  and  in  order 
that  no  consolidation  should  take  place,  it  is 
provided  that  no  State  shall,  by  any  amend 
ment  or  alteration,  be  ever  deprived  of  an 
equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate,  without  its  own 
consent.  The  two  first  prohibitions  are  with 
respect  to  the  census,  according  to  which  di 
rect  taxes  are  imposed,  and  with  respect  to 
the  importation  of  slaves.  As  to  the  first,  it 
must  be  observed  that  there  is  a  material  dif 
ference  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
States.  The  Northern  States  have  been  much 
longer  settled  and  are  much  fuller  of  people 
than  the  Southern,  but  have  not  land  in  equal 
proportion,  nor  scarcely  any  slaves.  The  sub 
ject  of  this  article  was  regulated  with  great 
difficulty,  and  by  a  spirit  of  concession  which 
it  would  not  be  prudent  to  disturb  for  a  good 
many  years.  In  twenty  years  there  will  prob 
ably  be  a  great  alteration,  and  then  the  subject 
may  be  considered  with  less  difficulty  and 
greater  coolness.  In  the  mean  time,  the  com 
promise  was  upon  the  best  footing  that  could 
be  obtained.  A  compromise  likewise  took 
place  in  regard  to  the  importation  of  slaves. 
It  is  probable  that  all  the  members  reprobated 
this  inhuman  traffic,  but  those  of  South  Caro 
lina  and  Georgia  would  not  consent  to  an  im 
mediate  prohibition  of  it;  one  reason  of  which 
was,  that  during  the  last  war  they  lost  a  vast 
number  of  negroes,  which  loss  they  wish  to 


supply.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  left  to  the 
States  to  admit  or  prohibit  the  importation, 
and  Congress  may  impose  a  limited  duty  upon 
it.— Page  158. 

Debates  in  the  Pennsylvania  State  Convention, 

called  to  ratify  the  Constitution. 
Mr.  Wilson.  Much  fault  has  been  found 
with  the  mode  of  expression  used  in  the  first 
clause  of  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article. 
I  believe  I  can  assign  a  reason  why  that  mode 
of  expression  was  used,  and  why  the  term  slave 
was  not  admitted  in  this  Constitution.  And 
as  to  the  manner  of  laying  taxes,  this  is  not 
the  first  time  that  the  subject  has  come  into 
the  view  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Legis 
latures  of  the  several  States.  The  gentleman 
[Mr.  Findley]  will  recollect  that  in  the  present 
Congress  the  quota  of  the  Federal  debt  and 
general  expenses  was  to  be  in  proportion  to 
the  value  of  land,  and  other  enumerated  prop 
erty,  within  the  States.  After  trying  this  for 
a  number  of  years,  it  was  found,  on  all  hands, 
to  be  a  mode  that  could  not  be  carried  into 
execution.  Congress  was  satisfied  of  this,  and 
in  the  year  1783  recommended,  in  conformity 
with  the  powers  they  possessed  under  the  Arti 
cles  of  Confederation,  that  the  quota  should  be 
according  to  the  number  of  free  people,  inclu 
ding  those  bound  to  servitude,  and  excluding 
Indians  not  taxed.  These  were  the  expressions 
used  in  1783,  and  the  fate  of  this  recommend 
ation  was  similar  to  all  their  other  resolutions. 
It  was  not  carried  into  effect,  but  it  was  adopted 
by  no  fewer  than  eleven  out  of  thirteen  States ; 
and  it  cannot  be  but  matter  of  surprise  to  hear 
gentlemen,  who  agreed  to  this  very  mode  of 
expression  at  that  time,  come  forward  and 
state  it  as  an  objection  on  the  present  occa 
sion.  It  was  natural,  sir,  for  the  late  Conven- 
to  adopt  the  mode  after  it  had  been  agreed 
to  by  eleven  States,  and  to  use  the  expression 
which  they  found  had  been  received  as  unex 
ceptionable  before.  With  respect  to  the  clause 
restricting  Congress  from  prohibiting  the  mi 
gration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any 
of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper 
to  admit  prior  to  the  year  1808,  the  honorable 
gentleman  says  that  this  clause  is  not  only 
dark,  but  intended  to  grant  to  Congress,  for 
that  time,  the  power  to  admit  the  importation 
of  slaves.  No  such  thing  was  intended ;  but  I 
will  tell  you  what  was  done — and  it  gives  me 
high  pleasure  that  so  much  was  done.  Under 
the  present  Confederation,  the  States  may  ad 
mit  the  importation  of  slaves  as  long  as  they 
please;  but  by  this  article,  after  the  year  1808 
the  Congress  will  have  power  to  prohibit  such 
importation,  notwithstanding  the  disposition 
of  any  State  to  the  contrary.  I  consider  this 
as  laying  the  foundation  for  banishing  slavery 
out  of  this  country ;  and  though  the  period  is 
more  distant  than  I  could  wish,  yet  it  will 
produce  the  same  kind,  gradual  change  which 
was  pursued  in  Pennsylvania.  It  is  with  much 
satisfaction  I  view  this  power  in  the  General 
Government,  whereby  they  may  lay  an  inter 
diction  on  this  reproachful  trade;  but  an  im- 


28 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


mediate  advantage  is  also  obtained,  for  a  tax 
or  duty  may  be  imposed  on  such  importation, 
not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each  person. 
And  this,  sir,  operates  as  a  partial  prohibition. 
It  was  all  that  could  be  obtained — I  am  sorry 
it  was  no  more;  but  from  this,  I  think  there 
is  reason  to  hope  that  yet  a  few  years,  and  it 
will  be  prohibited  altogether;  and  in  the  mean 
time  the  new  States  which  are  to  be  formed 
will  be  under  the  control  of  Congress  in  this 
particular,  and  slaves  will  never  be  introduced 
amongst  them.  The  gentleman  says  that  it  is 
unfortunate  in  another  point  of  view — it  means 
to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  white  people 
from  Europe,  as  this  tax  may  deter  them  from 
coming  among  us.  A  little  impartiality  and 
attention  will  discover  the  care  that  the  Con 
vention  took  in  selecting  their  language.  The 
words  are:  "The  migration  or  importation  of 
such  persons,  &c.,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by 
Congress  prior  to  the  year  1808,  but  a  tax  or 
duty  may  be  imposed  .on  such  importation."  It 
is  observable,  here,  that  the  term  migration  is 
dropped  when  a  tax  or  duty  is  mentioned,  so 
that  Congress  have  power  to  impose  the  tax 
only  on  those  imported. — Pages  250,  251. 

Delates  in  the  South  Carolina  State  Convention^ 
called  to  ratify  the  Constitution. 

General  Pinckney.  Tbe  numbers  in  the  dif 
ferent  States,  according  to  the  most  accurate 
accounts  we  could  obtain,  were — 

In  New  Hampshire,  102,000;  Massachusetts, 
360,000;  Rhode  Island,  58,000;  Connecticut, 
202,000;  New  York,  238,000;  New  Jersey, 
138,000;  Pennsylvania,  360,000;  Delaware, 
37,000;  Maryland,  (including  three-fifths  of 
80,000  negroes,)  218,000;  Virginia,  (including 
three-fifths  of  280,000  negroes,)  420,000 ;  North 
Carolina,  (including  three-fifths  of  60,000  ne 
groes,)  200,000;  South  Carolina,  (including 
three-fifths  of  80,000  negroes,)  150,000;  Geor 
gia,  (including  three-fifths  of  20,000  negroes,) 
90,000. 

The  first  House  of  Representatives  will  con 
sist  of  sixty-five  members ;  South  Carolina  will 
send  fiye  of  them.  Each  State  has  the  same 
representation  in  the  Senate  that  she  has  at 
present;  so  that  South  Carolina  will  have', 
under  the  new  Constitution,  a  thirtieth  share 
in  the  Government,  which  is  the  proportion 
she  has  under  the  old  Confederation ;  and  when 
it  is  considered  that  the  Eastern  States  are  full 
of  men,  and  that  we  must  necessarily  increase 
rapidly  to  the  southward  and  southwestward, 
he  did  not  think  that  the  Southern  States  will 
have  an  inadequate  share  in  the  representa 
tion.  The  honorable  gentleman  alleges  that 
the  Southern  States  are  weak.  I  sincerely 
agree  with  him;  we  are  so  weak  that,  by 
ourselves,  we  could  not  form  a  union  strong 
enough  for  the  purpose  of  effectually  protect 
ing  each  other.  Without  union  with  the  other 
States,  South  Carolina  must  soon  fall.  Is  there 
any  one  among  us  so  much  a  Quixote  as  to 
suppose  that  this  State  could  long  maintain 
her  independence  if  she  stood  alone,  or  was 
only  connected  with  the  Southern  States?  I 


scarcely  believe  there  is.  Let  an  invading 
Power  send  a  naval  force  into  the  Chesapeake, 
to  keep  Virginia  in  alarm,  and  attack  South 
Carolina  witb  such  a  naval  and  military  force 
as  Sir  Henry  Clinton  brought  here  in  1780, 
and,  though  they  might  not  soon  conquer  us, 
they  would  certainly  do  us  an  infinite  deal  of 
mischief;  and  if  they  considerably  increased 
their  numbers,  we  should  probably  fall.  As, 
from  the  nature  of  our  climate  and  the  fewness 
of  our  inhabitants,  we  are  undoubtedly  weak, 
should  we  not  endeavor  to  form  a  close  union 
with  the  Eastern  States,  who  are  strong? 
And  ought  we  not  to  endeavor  to  increase  that 
species  of  strength  which  will  render  them  of 
most  service  to  us,  both  in  peace  and  war?  I 
mean  their  navy.  We  certainly  ought;  and  by 
doing  this,  we  render  it  their  peculiar  interest 
to  afford  us  every  assistance  in  their  power,  as 
every  wound  that  we  receive  will  eventually 
affect  them.  Reflect,  for  a  moment,'  on  the 
situation  of  the  Eastern  States — their  country 
full  of  inhabitants,  and  so  impracticable  to  an 
invading  enemy  by  their  numberless  stone 
walls,  and  a  variety  of  other  circumstances, 
that  they  can  be  under  no  apprehension  of 
danger  from  an  attack.  They  can  enjoy  their 
independence  without  our  assistance.  If  our 
Government  is  to  be  founded  on  equal  com 
pact,  what  inducement  can  they  possibly  have 
to  be  united  with  us,  if  we  do  not  grant  them 
some  privileges  with  regard  to  their  shipping? 
Or,  supposing  they  were  to  unite  with  us  with-  . 
out  having  these  privileges,  can  we  flatter 
ourselves  that  such  a  union  would  be  lasting, 
or  that  they  would  afford  us  effectual  assist 
ance  when  invaded?  Interest  and  policy  both 
concurred  in  prevailing  upon  us  to  submit  the 
regulation  of  commerce  to  the  General  Gov 
ernment;  but  I  will  also  add,  justice  and  hu 
manity  require  it,  likewise ;  for,  who  have  been 
the  greatest  sufferers  in  the  Union,  by  our  ob 
taining  our  independence?  I  answer,  the 
Eastern  States ;  they  have  lost  everything  but 
their  country  and  their  freedom.  It  is  noto 
rious  that  some  ports  to  the  eastward,  which 
used  to  fit  out  one  hundred  and  fifty  sail  of 
vessels,  do  not  now  fit  out  thirty;  that  their 
trade  of  ship  building,  which  used  to  be  very 
considerable,  is  now  annihilated;  that  their 
fisheries  are  trifling,  and  their  mariners  in 
want  of  bread.  Surely  we  are  called  upon,  by 
every  tie  of  justice,  friendship,  and  humanity, 
to  relieve  their  distresses;  and  as,  by  their 
exertions,  they  have  assisted  us  in  establish 
ing  our  freedom,  we  should  let  them,  in  some 
measure,  partake  of  our  prosperity.  The  Gen 
eral  then  said  he  would  make  a  few  observa 
tions  on  the  objections  which  the  gentleman 
had  thrown  out  on  the  restriction^that,  might 
be  laid  on  the  African  trade  after  the  year 
1808.  On  this  point  your  delegates  had  to 
contend  with  the  religious  and  political  preju 
dices  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  and 
with  the  interested  and  inconsistent  opinion 
of  Virginia,  who  was  warmly  opposed  to  our 
importing  more  slaves.  I  am  of  the  same 
opinion  now  as  I  was  two  years  ago,  when  I 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


20 


used  the  expressions  the  gentleman  has  quoted, 
that  while  there  remained  one  acre  of  swamp 
land  uncleared,  of  South  Carolina,  1  would 
raise  my  voice  against  restricting  the  importa-  I 
tion  of  negroes.  I  am  as  thoroughly  convinced  I 
as  that  gentleman  is,  that  the  nature  of  our  j 
climate,  and  the  flat,  swampy  situation  of  our  : 
country,  obliges  us  to  cultivate  our  lands  with 
negroes ;  and  that,  without  them,  South  Caro 
lina  would  soon  be  a  desert  waste.  You  have 
so  frequently  heard  my  sentiments  on  this  sub 
ject,  that  I  need  not  now  repeat  them.  It  was 
alleged  by  some  of  the  members  who  opposed 
an  unlimited  importation,  that  slaves  increased 
the  weakness  of  any  State  who  admitted  them ; 
that  they  were  a  dangerous  species  of  pi-oper- 
ty,  which  an  invading  enemy  could  easily  turn 
against  ourselves  and  the  neighboring  States; 
and  that  as  we  were  allowed  a  representation 
for  them  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  our 
influence  in  Government  would  be  increased 
in  proportion  as  we  were  less  able  to  defend 
ourselves.  "Show  some  period,"  said  the 
members  from  the  Eastern  States,  "when  it 
maybe  in  our  power  to  put  a  stop,  if  we  please, 
to  the  importation  of  this  weakness,  and  we 
will  endeavor,  for  your  convenience,  to  restrain 
the  religious  and  political  prejudices  of  our 
people  on  this  subject."  The  Middle  States  and 
Virginia  made  us  no  such  proposition;  they  were 
for  an  immediate,  and  total  prohibition.  We  en 
deavored  to  obviate  the  objections  that  were 
made,  in  the  best  manner  we  could,  and  as 
signed  reasons  for  our  insisting  on  the  import 
ation,  which  there  is  no  occasion  to  repeat,  as 
they  must  occur  to  every  gentleman  in  the 
house.  A  committee  of  the  States  was  ap 
pointed,  in  order  to  accommodate  this  matter; 
and,  after  a  great  deal  of  difficulty,  it  was  set 
tled  on  the  footing  recited  in  the  Constitution. 

By  this  settlement  we  have  secured  an  un 
limited  importation  of  negroes  for  twenty 
years ;  nor  is  it  declared  that  the  importation 
shall  be  then  stopped ;  it  may  be  continued. 
We  have  a  security  that  the  General  Govern 
ment  can  never  emancipate  them,  for  no  such 
authority  is  granted,  and  it  is  admitted  on  all 
hands  that  the  General  Government  has  no 
powers  but  what  are  expressly  granted  by  the 
Constitution,  and  that  all  rights  not  expressed 
were  reserved  by  the  several  States.  We  have 
obtained  a  right  to  recover  our  slaves  in  what 
ever  part  of  America  they  may  take  refuge, 
which  is  a  right  we  had  not  before.  In  short, 
considering  all  circumstances,  we  have  made 
the  best  terms  for  the  security  of  this  species 
of  property  it  was  in  our  power  to  make.  We 
would  have  made  better  if  we  could;  but,  on 
the  whole.  I  do  not  think  them  bad. — Pages 
355—357. 

C.  Pinckney.  Those  who  are  acquainted 
with  the  Eastern  States,  the  reason  of  their 
original  migration,  and  their  pursuits,  habits, 
and  principles,  well  know  that  they  are  essen 
tially  different  from  those  of  the  Middle  and 
Southern  States;  that  they  retain  all  those 
opinions  respecting  religion  and  government 
•which  first  induced  their  ancestors  to  cross 


the  Atlantic ;  and  that  they  are,  perhaps,  more 
purely  republican  in  habits  and  sentiment  than 
any  other  part  of  the  Union.  The  inhabitants 
of  New  York  and  the  eastern  part  of  New  Jer 
sey,  originally  Dutch  settlements,  seem  to  have 
altered  less  than  might  have  been  expected  in 
the  course  of  a  century;  indeed,  the  greatest 
part  of  New  York  may  still  be  considered  as  a 
Dutch  settlement — the  people  in  the  interior 
country  generally  using  that  language  in  their 
families,  and  having  very  little  varied  their 
ancient  customs.  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware 
are  nearly  one-half  inhabited  by  Quakers, 
whose  passive  principles  upon  questions  of 
Government,  and  rigid  opinions  in  private, 
render  them  extremely  different  from  the  citi 
zens  either  of  the  Eastern  or  Southern  States. 
Maryland  was  originally  a  Roman  Catholic 
colony,  and  a  great  number  of  their  inhabit 
ants,  some  of  them  the  most  wealthy  and  cul 
tivated,  are  still  of  this  persuasion ;  it  is  unne 
cessary  for  me  to  state  the  striking  difference 
in  sentiment  and  habit  which  must  always  ex 
ist  between  the  Independents  of  the  East,  the 
Calvinists  and  Quakers  of  the  Middle  States, 
and  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Maryland;  but 
striking  as  this  is,  it  is  not  to  be  compared 
with  the  difference  that  there  is  between  the 
inhabitants  of  Northern  and  Southern  States ; 
when  I  say  Southern,  I  mean  Maryland  and 
the  States  to  the  southward  of  her;  here  we 
may  truly  observe  that  nature  has  drawn  as 
strong  marks  of  distinction  in  the  habits  and 
manners  of  the  people  as  she  has  in  her  cli 
mates  and  productions.  The  Southern  citizen 
beholds  with  a  kind  of  surprise  the  simple 
manners  of  the  East,  and  is  too  often  induced 
to  entertain  undeserved  opinions  of  the  appa 
rent  purity  of  the  Quaker;  while  they,  in  their 
turn,  seem  concerned  at  what  they  term  the 
extravagance  and  dissipation  of  their  Southern 
friends,  and  reprobate,  as  an  unpardonable 
moral  and  political  evil,  the  dominion  they 
hold  over  a  part  of  the  human  race.  The  in 
conveniences  which  too  frequently  attend  these 
differences  in  habits  and  opinions  among  the 
citizens  that  compose  the  Union,  are  not  a 
little  increased  by  the  variety  of  their  State 
Governments ;  for,  as  I  have  already  observed, 
the  Constitution  or  laws  under  which  a  people 
live  never  fail  to  have  a  powerful  effect  upon 
their  manners.  We  know  that  all  the  States 
have  adhered  in  their  forms  to  the  republican 
principle,  though  they  have  differed  widely  in 
their  opinions  of  the  mode  best  calculated  to 
preserve  it. — Pages  386,  387. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  JEFFERSON'S  NOTES 

ON  VIRGINIA. 
Boston  Edition,  1832. 

Under  the  mild  treatment  our  slaves  expe 
rience,  and  their  wholesome  though  coarse 
food,  this  blot  in  our  country  increases  as  fast 
or  faster  than  the  whites.  During  the  Regal 
Government,  we  had  at  one  time  obtained  a 
law,  which  imposed  such  a  duty  on  the  import 
ation  of  slaves  as  amounted  nearly  to  a  pro- 


30 


THE   SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


hibition,  when  one  inconsiderate  Assembly, 
placed  under  a  peculiarity  of  circumstance, 
repealed  the  law.  This  repeal  met  a  joyful 
sanction  from  the  then  sovereign,  and  no  de 
vices,  no  expedients,  which  could  ever  after  be 
attempted  by  subsequent  Assemblies — and  they  j 
seldom  met  without  attempting  them — could 
sudceed  in  getting  the  royal  assent  to  a  renewal 
of  the  duty.  In  the  very  first  session  held  un 
der  the  Republican  Government,  the  Assembly 
passed  a  law  for  the  perpetual  prohibition  of 
the  importation  of  slaves.  This  will,  in  some 
measure,  stop  the  increase  o^this  great  politi 
cal  and  moral  evil,iwhile  the  minds  of  our 
citizens  may  be  ripening  for  a  complete  eman 
cipation  of  human  nature. — Page  93. 

Many  of  the  laws  which  were  in  force  during 
the  monarchy,  being  relative  merely  to  that 
form  of  Government,  or  inculcating  principles 
inconsistent  with  republicanism,  the  first  As 
sembly  which  met  after  the  establishment  of 
the  Commonwealth,  appointed  a  committee* 
to  revise  the  whole  code — to  reduce  it  into 
proper  form  and  volume,  and  report  it  to  the 
Assembly.  This  work  has  been  executed  by 
three  gentlemen,  and  reported,  but  probably 
will  not  be  taken  up  till  a  restoration  of  peace 
shall  leave  to  the  Legislature  leisure  to  go 
through  such  a  work. 

Thej-  proposed  the  following,  among  other 
alterations : 

To  emancipate  all  slaves  born  after  passing 
the  act.  The  bill  reported  by  the  revisers 
does  not  itself  contain  this  proposition,  but  an 
amendment  containing  it  was  prepared,  to  be 
offered  to  the  Legislature  whenever  the  bill 
should  betaken  up;  and  further  directing  that 
they  should  continue  with  their  parents  to  a 
certain  age,  then  be  brought  up,  at  the  public 
expense,  to  tillage,  arts,  or  sciences,  according 
to  their  geniuses,  till  the  females  should  be 
eighteen  and  the  males  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  when  they  should  be  colonized  to  such 
place  as  the  circumstances  of  the  time  should 
render  most  proper,  sending  them  out  with 
arms,  implements  of  household  and  of  the 
handicraft  arts,  seeds,  pairs  of  the  useful  do 
mestic  animals,  &c.,  to  declare  them  a  free  and 
independent  people,  and  extend  to  them  our 
/alliance  and  protection,  till  they  have  acquired 
strength ;  and  to  send  vessels  at  the  same  time 
to  other  parts  of  the  world,  for  an  equal  num 
ber  of  white  inhabitants  ;  to  induce  whom  to 
migrate  hither,  proper  encouragements  were  to 
be  proposed.  It  will  probably  be  asked,  Why 
not  retain  and  incorporate  the  blacks  into  the 
State,  and  thus  save  the  expense  of  supplying, 
by  importation  of  white  settlers,  the  vacancies 
they  will  leave?  Deep-rooted  prejudices  en 
tertained  by  the  whites,  ten  thousand  recol 
lections  by  the  blacks  of  the  injuries  they  have 
sustained,  new  provocations,  the  real  dis 
tinctions  which  nature  has  made,  and  many 
other  circumstances,  will  divide  us  into  par 
ties,  and  produce  convulsions,  which  will  prob- 


*Thomas  Jefferson,  George  Wythe,  and  Edmund 
Pendieton 


never  end  but  in  the  extermination  of 
the  one  or  the  other  race. — Pages  142 — 144. 

Whether  further  observation  will  or  will  not 
verify  the  conjecture,  that  nature  has  been  less 
bountiful  to  them  in  the  endowments  of  the 
head,  I  believe  that  in  those  of  the  heart  she 
Avill  be  found  to  have  done  them  justice.  That 
disposition  to  theft  with  which  they  have  been 
branded  must  be  ascribed  to  their  situation, 
and  not  to  any  depravity  of  the  moral  sense. 
The  man  in  whose  favor  no  laws  of  property 
exist,  probably  feels  himself  less  bound  to  re 
spect  those  made  in  favor  of  others.  When 
arguing  for  ourselves,  we  lay  it  down  as  a  fun 
damental,  that  laws,  to  be  just,  must  give  a 
reciprocation  of  right;  that,  without  this,  they 
are  mere  arbitrary  rules  of  conduct,  founded 
in  force,  and  not  ins  conscience;  and  it  is  a 
problem  which  I  give  to  the  master  to  solve, 
whether  the  religious  precepts  against  the 
violation  of  property  were  not  framed  for  him 
as  well  as  his  slave?  And  whether  the  slave 
may  not  as  justifiably  take  a  little  from  one 
who  has  taken  all  from  him,  as  he  may  slay 
one  who  would  slay  him?  That  a  change  in 
the  relations  i*  which  a  man  is  placed  should 
change  his  ideas  of  moral  right  or  wrong,  is 
neither  new  nor  peculiar  to  the  color  of  the 
blacks.  Homer  tells  it  was  so  2,600  years  ago. 

'EmisUjger  t'  aretes  apoainutai  euruopa  Zous 

Haneros,  eiu'  an  min  kota  doulion  ema  elesin. 

Odd.  17.  323. 

Jove  fix'd  it  certain,  that  whatever  day 
Makes  man  a  slave,  takes  half  his  worth  away. 

But  the  slaves  of  which  Homer  speaks  were 
whites.  Notwithstanding  these  considerations, 
which  must  weaken  their  respect  for  the  laws 
of  property,  we  find  among  them  numerous 
instances  of  the  most  rigid  integrity,  and  as 
many  as  among  their  better-instructed  mas 
ters,  of  benevolence,  gratitude,  and  unshaken 
fidelity.  The  opinion  that  they  are  inferior  in 
the  faculties  of  reason  and  imagination,  must 
be  hazarded  with  great  diffidence.  To  justify 
a  general  conclusion,  requires  many  observa 
tions,  even  where  the  subject  may  be  sub 
mitted  to  the  anatomical  knife,  to  optical 
glasses,  to  analysis  by  fire  or  by  solvents. 
How  much  more,  then,  where  it  is  a  faculty, 
not  a  substance,  we  are  examining;  where  it 
eludes  the  research  of  all  the  senses ;  where 
the  conditions  of  its  existence  are  various,  and 
variously  combined ;  where  the  effects  of  those 
which  are  present  or  absent  bid  defiance  to 
calculation.  Let  me  add,  too,  as  a  circum 
stance  of  great  tenderness,  where  our  conclu 
sion  would  degrade  a  whole  race  of  men  from 
the  rank  in  the  scale  of  beings  which  their 
Creator  may  perhaps  have  given  them.  To 
our  reproach  it  must  be  said,  that  though  for 
a  century  and  a  half  we  have  had  under  our 
eyes  the  races  of  black  and  red  men,  they  have 
never  yet  been  viewed  by  us  as  subjects  of 
natural  history.  I  advance  it,  therefore,  as  a 
suspicion  only,  that  the  blacks,  whether  origin 
ally  a  distinct  race,  or  made  distinct  by  time 
and  circumstances,  are  inferior  to  the  whites 
in  the  endowments  both  of  body  and  mind. 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFOEM, 


31 


It  is  not  gainst  experience  to  suppose^  that  | 
different  species  of  the  same  genus,  or  varieties 
of  the  same  species,  may  possess  different 
qualifications.  Will  not  a  lover  of  natural 
history,  then — one  who  views  the  gradations 
in  all  the  races  of  animals  with  the  eye  of 
philosophy — excuse  an  effort  to  keep  those  in 
the  department  of  man  as  distinct  as  nature 
has  formed  them?  This  unfortunate  differ 
ence  of  color,  and  perhaps  of  faculty,  is  a 
powerful  obstacle  to  the  emancipation  of  these 
people.  Many  of  their  advocates,  while  they 
wish  to  vindicate  the  liberty  of  human  nature, 
are  anxious  also  to  preserve  its  dignity  and 
beauty.  Some  of  these,  embarrassed  by  the 
question,  "What  further  is  to  be  done  with 
thorn?"  join  themselves  in  opposition  with 
those  who  are  actuated  by  sordid  avarice  only. 
Among  the  Romans,  emancipation  required 
but  one  effort.  -The  slaves,  when  made  free, 
might  mix  with,  without  staining,  the  blood  of 
his  master.  But  with  us  a  second  is  necessary, 
unknown  to  history.  When  freed,  he  is  to  be 
removed  beyond  the  reach  of  mixture.  The 
revised  code  further  proposes  to  proportion 
crimes  and  punishments.  This  is  attempted 
on  the  following  scale. — Pages  149 — 151. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  on  the  standard 
by  which  the  manners  of  a  nation  may  be  tried, 
whether  catholic  or  particular.  It  is  more 
difficult  for  a  native  to  bring  to  that  standard 
the  manners  of  his  own  nation,  familiiLrizeuto 
him  by  habit.  There  must  doubtless  be  an 
unhappy  influence  on  the  manners  of  our  peo 
ple,  produced  by  the  existence  of  slavery  among 
us.  The  whole  commerce  between  master  and 
slave  is  a  perpetual  exercise  of  the  most  bois 
terous  passions — the  most  unremitting  despot 
ism  on  the  one  part,  and  degrading  submis 
sions  on  the  other.  Our  children  see  this,  and 
learn  to  imitate  it;  for  man  is  an  imitative 
animal.  This  quality  is  the  germ  of  all  educa 
tion  in  him.  From  his  cradle  to  his  grave,  he 
is  learning  to  do  what  he  sees  others  do.  If 
a  parent  could  find  no  motive,  either  in  his 
philanthropy  or  his  self-love,  for  restraining 
the  intemperance  of  passion  towards  his  slave, 
it  should  always  be  a  sufficient  one  that  his 
child  is  present.  But  generally  it  is  not  suf 
ficient.  The  parent  storms,  the  child  looks 
on,  catches  the  lineaments  of  wrath,  puts  on 
the  same  airs  in  the  circle  of  smaller  slaves, 
gives  a  loose  rein  to  the  worst  of  passions; 
and,  thus  nursed,  educated,  and  daily  exercised 
in  tyranny,  cannot  but  be  stamped  by  it  with 
odious  peculiarities.  The  man  must  be  a 
prodigy  who  can  retain  his  manners  and  mor 
als  undepraved  by  such  circumstances.  And 
with  what  execration  should  the  statesman  be 
loaded,  who,  permitting  one-half  the  citizens 
thus  to  trample  on  the  rights  of  the  other, 
transforms  those  into  despots  and  these  into 
enemies,  destroys  the  morals  of  the  one  part, 
and  the  amor  patrise  of  the  other:  for  if  a  slave 
can  have  a  country  in  this  world,  it  must  be 
any  other  in  preference  to  that  in  which  he  is 
born  to  live  and  labor  for  another;  in  which 
he  must  lock-  up  the  faculties  of  his  nature, 


contribute,  as  far  as  depends  on  his  individual 
endeavors,  to  the  evanishment  of  the  human 
race,  or  entail  his  own  miserable  condition  oa 
the  endless  generations  proceeding  from  him. 
With  the  morals  of  the  people,  their  industry 
also  is  destroyed;  for,  in  a  warm  climate,  no 
man  will  labor  for  himself  who  can  make  an 
other  labor  for  him.  This  is  so  true,  that  of 
the  proprietors  of  slaves  a  very  small  propor 
tion,  indeed,  are  ever  seen  to  labor.  And  can 
the  liberties  of  a  nation  be  thought  secure, 
when  we  have  removed  their  only  firm  basis — 
a  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that 
these  liberties  are  the  gift  of  God?  that  they 
are  not  to  be  violated  but  with  his  wrath?  In 
deed,  I  tremble  for  my  country  when  I  reflect 
that  God  is  just;  that  his  justice  cannot  sleep 
forever;  that,  considering  numbers,  nature,  and 
natural  means  only,  a  revolution  of  the  wheel 
of  fortune,  an  exchange  of  situation,  is  among 
possible  events  ;  that  it  may  become  probable 
by  supernatural  interference !  The  Almighty 
has  no  attribute  which  can  take  side  with  us 
in  such  a  contest.  But  it  is  impossible  to  be 
temperate  and  to  pursue  this  subject  through 
the  various  considerations  of  policy,  of  morals, 
of  history,  natural  and  civil.  We  must  be 
contented  to  hope  they  will  force  their  way 
into  every  one's  mind.  I  think  a  change  al 
ready  perceptible,  since  the  origin  of  the 
present  Revolution.  The  spirit  of  the  master 
is  abating,  that  of  the  slave  rising  from  the 
dust,  his  condition  mollifying,  the  way  I  hope 
preparing,  under  the  auspices  of  Heaven,  for  a 
total  emancipation ;  and  that  this  is  disposed, 
in  the  order  of  events,  to  be  with  the  consent 
of  the  masters,  rather  than  by  their  extirpa 
tion. — Pages  169 — 171. 


EXTRACT  FROM  PLAN  OF  A  CONSTITU 
TION  FOR  VIRGINIA. 

Drawn  up  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  1783. 

The  General  Assembly  shall  not  have  power 
to  infringe  this  Constitution;  to  abridge  the 
civil  rights  of  any  person  on  account  of  his 
religious  belief;  to  restrain  him  from  profess 
ing  and  supporting  that  belief,  or  to  compel 
him  to  contributions,  other  than  those  he  shall 
have  personally  stipulated,  for  the  support  of 
that  or  any  other;  to  ordain  death  for  any 
crime  but  treason  or  murder,  or  military  of 
fences;  to  pardon,  or  give  a  power  of  pardon 
ing,  persons  duly  convicted  of  treason  or  felo 
ny,  but,  instead  thereof,  they  may  substitute 
one  or  two  new  trials,  and  no  more;  to  pass 
such  laws  for  punishing  actions  done  before 
the  existence  of  such  laws  ;  to  pass  any  bill 
of  attainder  of  treason  or  felony;  to  prescribe 
torture  in  any  case  whatever;  nor  to  permit 
the  introduction  of  any  more  slaves  to  reside 
in  this  State,  or  the  continuance  of  slavery 
beyond  the  generation  which  shall  be  living 
on  the  thirty-first  day  of  December,  one  thou 
sand  eight  hundred — all  persons  born  after 
that  day  being  hereby  declared  free. — Page 
226. 


32 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  MR.  JEFFERSON'S  COR 
RESPONDENCE—VOL.  I. 

The  first  establishment  in  Virginia  which 
became  permanent  was  made  in  160?.  I  have 
found  no  mention  of  negroes  in  the  colony 
until  about  1650.  The  first  brought  here  as 
slaves  were  by  a  Dutch  ship;  after  which,  the 
English  commenced  the  trade,  and  continued 
it  until  the  revolutionary  war.  That  sus 
pended,  i%>so  facto,  their  further  importation 
for  the  present;  and  the  business  of  the  Avar 
pressing  constantly  on  the  Legislature,  this 
subject  was  not  acted  on  finally  until  the  year 
IT 78,  Avheii  I  brought  in  a  bill  to  prevent  their 
further  importation.  This  passed  without  op 
position,  and  stopped  the  increase  of  the 
evil  by  importation,  leaving  to  future  efforts 
its  final  eradication. — Page  31. 

The  bill  on  the  subject  of  slaves  was  a  mere 
digest  of  the  existing  laws  respecting  them, 
without  any  intimation  of  a  plan  for  a  future 
and  general  emancipation.  It  was  thought 
better  that  this  should  be  kept  back,  and  at 
tempted  only  by  way  of  amendment,  whenever 
the  bill  should  be  brought  on.  The  principles 
of  the  amendment,  however,  were  agreed  on ; 
that  is  to  say,  the  freedom  of  all  born  after  a 
certain  day,  and  deportation  at  a  proper  age. 
But  it  was  found  that  the  public  mind  would 
not  yet  bear  the  proposition,  nor  will  it  bear 
it  even  at  this  day;  yet  the  day  is  not  distant 
when  it  must  bear  and  adopt  it,  or  Avorse  will 
follow.  Nothing  is  more  certainly  Avritten  in 
the  book  of  fate,  than  that  these  people  are  to 
be  free;  nor  is  it  less  certain  that  the  two 
races,  equally  free,  cannot  live  in  the  same 
Government.  Nature,  habit,  opinion,  have 
drawn  indelible  lines  of  distinction  between 
them.  It  is  still  in  our  poAver  to  direct  the 
process  of  emancipation  and  deportation  peace 
ably,  ancl  ill  such  slow  degree  as  that  the  evil 
Avill  Avear  off  insensibly,  and  their  place  be 
pari  pa-ssu  filled  up  by  free  Avhite  laborers. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  left  to  force  itself  on, 
human  nature  must  shudder  at  the  prospect 
held  up.  We  should  in  vain  look  for  an  ex 
ample  in  the  Spanish  deportation  or  deletion 
of  the  Moors.  This  precedent  Avould  fall  far 
short  of  our  case. — Pages  39,  40. 
To  General  Chastellux. 

PARIS,  June  7,  1785. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  haAre  been  honored  with  the  re 
ceipt  of  your  letter  of  the  2d  instant,  and  am 
to  thank  you,  as  I  do  sincerely,  for  the  par 
tiality  with  which  you  receive  the  copy  of  the 
Notes  on  my  country.  As  I  can  ansAver  for 
the  facts  therein  reported  on  my  own  observa 
tion,  and  have  admitted  none  on  the  report  of 
others,  which  were  not  supported  by  evidence 
sufficient  to  command  my  OAvn  assent,  I  am 
not  afraid  that  you  should  make  any  extracts 
you  please  for  the  Journal  ch  Physique,  which 
come  Avithin  their  plan  of  publication.  The 
strictures  on  slavery  and  on  the  Constitution 
of  Virginia  are  not  of  that  kind,  and  they  are 
the  parts  Avhich  I  do  not  wish  to  have  made 
public,  at  least  till  i  know  whether  their  pub 


lication  Avould  do  most  harm  or  good.  It  is 
possible  that  in  my  OAvn  country  these  strict 
ures  might  produce  an  irritation  Avhich  would 
indispose  the  people  towards  the  two  great 
objects  I  have  in  vieAv — that  is,  the  emancipa 
tion  of  their  slaves,  and  the-settlcment  of  their 
Constitution  on  a  firmer  and  more  permanent 
basis.  If  I  learn  from  thence  that  they  Avill 
not  produce  that  effect,  I  have  printed  and 
reserved  just  copies  enough  to  be  able  to  give 
one  to  every  young  man  at  the  college.  It  is 
to  them  I  look — to  the  rising  generation,  and 
not  to  the  one  noAV  in  pOAver — for  these  great 
reformations. — Page  228. 

To  Dr.  Price. 

PARIS,  August  7,  1785. 

SIR;  Your  favor  of  July  the  2cl  came  duly 
to  hand.  The  concern  you  therein  express,  as 
to  the  effect  of  your  pamphlet  in  America,  in 
duces  me  to  trouble  you  with  some  observa- 
tions  on  that  subject.  From  my  acquaintance 
Avith  that  country,  I  think  I  am  able  to  judge, 
Avith  some  degree  of  certainty,  of  the  manner 
in  Avhich  it  Avill  have  been  "received.  South- 
Avard  of  the  Chesapeake,  it  Avill  find  but  few 
readers  concurring  Avith  it  in  sentiment  on  the 
subject  of  slavery ;  from  the  mouth  to  the  head 
of  the  Chesapeake,  the  bulk  of  the  people  will 
approve  it  in  theory,  and  it  Avill  find  a  respecta 
ble  minority  ready  to  adopt  it  in  practice — a 
minority  which,  for  Aveight  and  worth  of  char 
acter,  preponderates  against  the  greater  num 
ber,  Avho  have  not  the  courage  to  divest  their 
families  of  a  property  Avhich,  however,  keeps 
their  consciences  unquiet;  northward  of  the 
Chesapeake,  you  may  find,  here  and  there,  an 
opponent  to  your  doctrine,  as  you  may  find, 
here  and  there,  a  robber  and  murderer;  but  in 
no  great  number. 

In  that  part  of  America,  there  being  but 
few  slaves,  they  can  easily  disencumber  them 
selves  of  them;  and  emancipation  is  put  into 
such  a  train  that  in  a  few  years  there  will  be 
no  slaves  northward  of  Maryland.  In  Mary 
land  I  do  not  find  such  a  disposition  to  begin 
the  redress  of  this  enormity,  as  in  Virginia. 
This  is  the  next  State  to  which  AVC  may  turn 
our  eyes  for  the  interesting  spectacle  of  justice 
in  conflict  with  avarice  and  oppression — a  con 
flict  wherein  the  sacred  side  is  gaining  daily 
recruits  from  the  influx  into  office  of  young 
men  grown  and  groAving  up.  These  have 
sucked  in  the  principles  of  liberty,  as  it  were, 
Avith  their  mothers'  milk ;  and  it  is  to  them  I 
lookAvith  anxiety  to  turn  the  fate  of  this  ques 
tion.  Be  not,  therefore,  discouraged.  What 
you  have  Avritten  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good; 
and  could  you  still  trouble  yourself  with  our 
welfare,  no  man  is  more  able  to  give  aid  to 
the  laboring  side.  The  college  of  William  and 
Mary,  in  Williamsburg,  since  the  remodelling 
of  its  plan,  is  the  place  Avhere  are  collected 
together  all  the  young  men  of  Virginia,  under 
preparation  for  public  life.  They  are  there 
under  the  direction  (most  of  them)  of  a  Mr. 
Wythe,  one  of  the  most  virtuous  of  characters, 
and  Avhose  sentiments  on  the  subject  of  slavery 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


33 


are  unequivocal.     I  am  satisfied,  if  you  could 
resolve    to  address    an    exhortation    to  those 
young  men,  with  all  that  eloquence  of  which  j 
you  are  master,  that  its  influence  on  the  future  '• 
decision  of  this  important  question  would  be  : 
great,  perhaps  decisive.     Thus  you   see  that, 
so  far  from  thinking  you  have  cause  to  repent 
of  what  you  have  done,  I  wish  you  to  do  more; 
and  wish  it,  on  an  assurance  of  its  effect.    The  i 
information  I  have  received  from  America  of  | 
the  reception  of  your  pamphlet  in  the  different  • 
States,    agrees  with    the  expectations    I    had 
formed.     Our  country  is  getting  into  a  ferment 
against  yours,  or  rather  has   caught  it  from 
jours.     God   knows  how  this  will  end;  but  < 
assuredly  in  one  extreme  or  the  other.     There 
can  ba  no  medium  between  those  who  have 
loved  so   much.     I  think  the  decision  is   in 
your  power  as  yet,  but  will  not  be  SQ  long.     I 
pray  you  to  be  assured  of  the  sincerity  of  the 
esteem   and  respect  with  which  I  have  the 
honor  to.  be,  sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble 
servant,  TH.  JEFFEIISON. 

{Pages  268,  269.] 

M.  de  Meusnier,  where  he  mentions  that  the 
slave  law  has  been  passed  in  Virginia  without 
the  clause  of  emancipation,  is  pleased  to  men 
tion  that  neither  Mr.  Wythe  nor  Mr.  Jefferson 
was  present,  to  make  the  proposition  they  had 
meditated;  from  which,  people  who  do  not 
give  themselves  the  trouble  to  reflect  or  in 
quire,  might  conclude,  hastily,  that  their  ab 
sence  was  the  cause  why  the  proposition  was 
not  made,  and,  of  course,  that  there  were  not 
in  the  Assembly  persons  of  virtue  and  firmness 
enough  to  propose  the  clause  for  emancipation. 
This  supposition  would  not  be  true.  There 
were  persons  there  who  wanted  neither  the 
virtue  to  propose  nor  talents  to  enforce  the  prop 
osition,  had  they  seen  that  the  disposition  of  the 
Legislature  was  ripe  for  it.  These  worthy 
characters  would  feel  themselves  wounded,  de 
graded,  and  discouraged,  by  this  idea.  Mr. 
Jefferson  would  therefore  be  obliged  to  M.  de 
Meusnier  to  mention  it  in  some  such  manner 
as  this:  "Of  the  two  commissioners  who  had 
concerted  the  amendatory  clause  for  the  grad 
ual  emancipation  of  slaves,  Mr.  Wythe  could 
not  be  present,  he  being  a  member  of  the  judi 
ciary  department,  and  Mr.  Jefferson  was  absent 
on  the  legation  to  France.  But  there  were  not 
wanting  in  that  Assembly  men  of  virtue  enough 
to  propose  and  talents  to  vindicate  this  clause. 
But  they  saw  that  the  moment  of  doing  it  with 
success  was  not  yet  arrived,  and  that  an  un 
successful  effort,  as  too  often  happens,  would 
only  rivet  still  closer  the  chains  of  bondage, 
and  retard  the  moment  of  delivery  to  this  op 
pressed  description  of  men.  What  a  stupen 
dous,  what  an  incomprehensible  machine  is 
man!  who  can  endure  toil,  famine,  stripes, 
imprisonment,  and  death  itself,  in  vindication 
of  his  own  liberty,  and,  the  next  moment,  be 
deaf  to  all  those  motives  whose  power  sup 
ported  him  through  his  trial,  and  inflict  on  his 
fellow-men  a  bondage,  one  hour  of  which  is 
fraught  with  more  misery  than  ages  of  that 
which  he  rose  in  rebellion  to  oppose.  But  we 
3 


must  await,  with  patience,  the  workings  of  an 
overruling  Providence,  and  hope  that  that  is 
preparing  the  deliverance  of  these  our  suffer 
ing  brethren.  When  the  measure  of  their 
tears  shall  be  full,  when  their  groans  shall 
have  involved  heaven  itself  in  darkness,  doubt 
less  a  God  of  Justice  will  awaken  to  their  dis 
tress,  and,  by  diffusing  light  and  liberality 
among  their  oppressors,  or  at  length  by  his 
exterminating  thunder,  manifest  his  attention 
to  the  things  of  this  world,  and  that  they  are 
not  left  to  the  guidance  of  a  blind  fatality. — 
Pages  427,  4L'S. 

VOL.   II. 

To  Dr.  Gordon.  [Extract.] 
Lord  Cornwallis  then  proceeded  to  the  Point 
of  Fork,  and  encamped  his  army  from  thence 
all  along  the  main  James  river,  to  a  seat  of 
mine,  called  Elk-hill,  opposite  to  Elk  island, 
and  a  little  below  the  mouth  of  Byrd  creek. 
(You  will  see  all  these  places  exactly  laid  down 
in  the  map  annexed  to  my  Notes  on  Virginia, 
printed  by  Stockdale.)  He  remained  in  this 
position  ten  days,  his  own  headquarters  being 
in  my  house  at  that  place.  I  had  time  to  re 
move  most  of  the  effects  out  of  the  house.  He 
destroyed  all  my  5.- rowing  crops  of  corn  and 
tobacco;  he  burm  1  all  my  barns,  containing 
the  same  articles  o.'  the  last  year,  having  first 
taken  what  corn  l.e  wanted;  he  used,  as  was 
to  be  expected,  all  my  stock  of  cattle,  sheep, 
and  hogs,  for  the  sustenance  of  his  army,  and 
carried  off  all  the  horses  capable  of  service ;  of 
those  too  young  for  service  he  cut  the  throats  ; 
and  he  burned  all  the  fences  on  the  plantation, 
so  as  to  leave  it  an  absolute  waste.  He  car 
ried  off,  also,  about  thirty  slaves.  Had  this 
been  to  give  them  freedom,  he  would  have 
done  right ;  but  it  was  to  consign  them  to  in 
evitable  death  from  the  small-pox  and  putrid 
fever,  then  raging  in  his  camp.  This  I  knew 
afterwards  to  be  the  fate  of  twenty-seven  of 
them.  I  never  had  news  of  the  remaining 
three,  but  presume  they  shared  the  same  fate. 
When  I  say  that  Lord  Cornwallis  did  all  this, 
I  do  not  mean  that  he  carried  about  the  torch 
in  his  own  hands,  but  that  it  was  all  done 
under  his  eye — the  situation  of  the  house  in 
which  he  was,  commanding  a  view  of  every 
part  of  the  plantation,  so  that  he  must  have 
seen  every  fire.  I  relate  these  things  on  my 
own  knowledge,  in  a  great  degree,  as  I  was  on 
the  ground  soon  after  he  left  it.  He  treated 
the  rest  of  the  neighborhood  somewhat  in  the 
same  style,  but  not  with  that  spirit  of  total 
extermination  with  which  he  seemed  to  rage 
over  my  possessions.  Wherever  he  went,  the 
dwelling-houses  were  plundered  of  everything 
which  could  be  carried  off.  Lor  I  Cornwallis's 
character  in  England  would  forlid  the  belief 
that  he  shared  in  the  plunder;  but  that  his 
table  was  served  with  the  plate  thus  pillaged 
from  private  houses,  can  be  proved  by  many 
hundred  eye-witnesses.  From  an  estimate  I 
made  at  that  time,  on  the  best  information  I 
could  collect,  I  supposed  the  State  of  Virginia 
lost  under  Lord  Cornwallis's  hands,  that  year, 


34 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


about  thirty  thousand  slaves ;  and  that  of  these, 
about  twenty-seven  thousand  died  of  the  small 
pox  and  camp  fever,  and  the  rest  were  partly 
sent  to  the  West  Indies,  and  exchanged  for 
rum,  sugar,  coffee,  and  fruit,  and  partly  sent 
to  New  York,  from  whence  they  went,  at  the 
peace,  either  to  Nova  Scotia  or  England. 
From  this  last  place  I  believe  they  have  been 
lately  sent  to  Africa.  History  will  never  re 
late  the  horrors  committed  by  the  British  ar 
my  in  the  Southern  States  of  America.  They 
raged  in  Virginia  six  months  only — from  the 
middle  of  April  to  the  middle  of  October, 
1781 — when  they  were  all  taken  prisoners; 
and  I  give  you  a  faithful  specimen  of  their 
transactions  for  ten  days  of  that  time,  and  on 
one  spot  only.  Ex pede  Herculem.  I  suppose 
their  Avhole  devastations  during  those  six 
months  amounted  to  about  three  millions 
sterling.  The  copiousness  of  this  subject  has 
only  left  me  space  to  assure  you  of  the  senti 
ments  of  esteem  and  respect  with  which  I  am, 
sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 
[Page  334.]  TH.  JEFFERSON. 

VOL.  III. 

To  John  Jay.  [Extract.] 
The  emancipation  of  their  [French]  islands 
ia  an  idea  prevailing  in  the  minds  of  several 
members  of  the  National  Assembly,  particu 
larly  those  most  enlightened  and  most  liberal 
in  their  views.  Such  a  step  by  this  country 
would  lead  to  other  emancipations  or  revolu 
tions  in  the  same  quarter. — Page  21. 

VOL.  IV. 

To  S.  Kerchival.  [Extract.] 
Since  writing  my  letter  of  July  the  12th,  I 
have  been  told  that,  on  the  question  of  equal 
representation,  our  fellow-citizens  in  some 
sections  of  the  State  claim  peremptorily  a  right 
of  representation  for  their  slaves.  Principle 
will,  in  this,  as  in  most  other  cases,  open  the 
way  for  us  to  correct  conclusions.  Were  our 
State  a  pure  democracy,  in  which  all  its  in 
habitants  should  meet  together  to  transact  all 
their  business,  there  would  yet  be  excluded 
from  their  deliberations — 1.  Infants,  until  ar 
rived  at  years  of  discretion.  2.  *Women,  who, 
to  prevent  depravation  of  morals  and  ambi 
guity  of  issue,  could  not  mix  promiscuously  in 
the  public  meetings  of  men.  3.  Slaves,  from 
whom  the  unfortunate  state  of  things  with  us 
takes  away  the  rights  of  will  and  of  property. 
Those,  then,  who  have  no  will,  could  be  per 
mitted  to  exercise  none  in  the  popular  assem 
bly ;  and,  of  course,  could  delegate  none  to  be 
an  agent  in  a  representative  assembly.  The 
business,  in  the  first  case,  would  be  done  by 
qualified  citizens  only;  and  in  the  second,  by 
the  representatives  of  qualified  citizens  only. 
It  is  true,  that  in  the  general  Constitution,  our 
State  is  allowed  a  larger  representation  on  ac 
count  of  its  slaves.  But  every  one  knows  that 
that  Constitution  was  a  matter  of  compromise ; 
a  capitulation  between  conflicting  interests 
and  opinions.  In  truth,  the  condition  of  dif 
ferent  descriptions  of  inkabitants  in  any  coun 


try  is  a  matter  of  municipal  arrangement,  of 
which  no  foreign  country  has  a  right  to  take 
notice.  All  its  inhabitants  are  men,  as  to 
them.  Thus,  in  the  New  England  States,  none 
have  the  powers  of  citizens  but  those  whom 
they  call  freemen;  and  none  are  freemen  until 
admitted  by  a  vote  of  the  freemen  of  the  town. 
Yet,  in  the  General  Government,  these  non- 
freemen  are  counted  in  their  quantum  of  rep 
resentation  and  taxation.  So,  slaves  with  us 
have  no  powers  as  citizens;  yet,  in  represent 
ation  in  the  General  Government,  they  count 
in  the  proportion  of  three  to  five ;  and  so  also 
in  taxation.  Whether  this  is  eqxial,  is  not 
here  the  question.  It  is  a  capitulation  of  dis 
cordant  sentiments  and  circumstances,  and  is 
obligatory  on  that  ground.  But  this  view 
shows  there  is  no  inconsistency  in  claiming 
representation  for  them  from  the  other  States, 
and  refusing  it  within  our  OAvn.  Accept  the 
renewal  of  assurances  of  my  respect. 

[Page  295.]  THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

To  William  Short.     [Extract.] 

Although  I  had  laid  down  as  a  law  to  my 
self,  never  to  write,  talk,  or  even  to  think  of 
politics,  to  know  nothing  of  public  affairs,  and 
therefore  had  ceased  to  read  newspapers,  yet 
the  Missouri  question  aroused  and  filled  me 
with  alarm.  The  old  schism  of  Federal  and 
Republican  threatened  nothing,  because  it  ex 
isted  in  every  State,  and  united  them  together 
by  the  fraternism  of  party.  But  the  coinci 
dence  of  a  marked  principle,  moral  and  politi 
cal,  with  a  geographical  line,  once  conceived, 
I  feared  would  never  more  be  obliterated  from 
the  mind ;  that  it  would  be  recurring  on  every 
occasion,  and  renewing  irritations,  until  it 
would  kindle  such  mutual  and  mortal  hatred, 
as  to  render  separation  preferable  to  eternal 
discord.  I  have  been  among  the  most  san 
guine  in  believing  that  our  Union  would  be  of 
long  duration.  I  now  doubt  it  much,  and  see 
the  event  at  no  great  distance,  and  the  direct 
consequence  of  this  question;  not  by  the  line 
which  has  been  so  confidently  counted  on;  the 
laws  of  Nature  control  this ;  but  by  the  Poto 
mac,  Ohio,  and  Missouri,  or,  more  probably, 
the  Mississippi  upwards  to  our  Northern  bound 
ary.  My  only  comfort  and  confidence  is,  that 
I  shall  not  live  to  see  this;  and  I  envy  not  the 
present  generation  the  glory  of  throwing  away 
the  fruits  of  their  fathers'  sacrifices  of  life  and 
fortune,  and  of  rendering  desperate  the  experi 
ment  which  was  to  decide  ultimately  whether 
man  is  capable  of  self-government.  This  trea 
son  against  human  hope  will  signalize  their 
epoch  in  future  history,  as  the  counterpart  of 
the  medal  of  their  predecessors. — Page  322. 
To  John  Holmes. 
MONTICELLO,  April  22,  1820. 

I  thank  you,  dear  sir,  for  the  copy  you  have 
been  so  kind  as  to  send  me  of  the  letter  to 
your  constituents  on  the  Missouri  question. 
It  is  a  perfect  justification  to  them.  I  had  for 
a  long  time  ceased  to  read  newspapers,  or  pay 
any  attention  to  public  affairs,  confident  they 
were  in  good  hands,  and  content  to  be  a  pas- 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


35 


senger  in  our  bark  to  the  shore  from  which  I 
am  not  distant.  But  this  momentous  question, 
like  a  fire-bell  in  the  night,  awakened  and 
filled  me  with  terror.  I  considered  it  at  once 
as  the  kiiell  of  the  Union.  It  is  hushed,  in 
deed,  for  the  moment.  But  this  is  a  reprieve 
only,  not  a  final  sentence.  A  geographical 
line,  coinciding  with  a  marked  principle,  moral 
and  political,  once  conceived  and  held  up  to 
the  angry  passions  of  men,  will  never  be  ob 
literated  ;  and  every  new  irritation  will  mark  it 
deeper  and  deeper.  £l  can  say,  with  conscious 
truth,  that  there  is  not  a  man  on  earth  who 
would  sacrifice  more  than  I, would  to  relieve 
us  from  this  heavy  reproach^in  any  practica 
ble  way.  The  cession  of  tttat  kind  of  proper 
ty,  for  so  it  is  misnamed,  is  a  bagatelle  which 
would  not  cost  me  a  second  thought,  if,  in 
that  way,  a  general  emancipation  and  expa 
triation  could  be  effected ;  and  gradually,  and 
with  due  sacrifices,  I  think  it  might  be.  But 
as  it  is,  we  have  the  w6lf  by  the  ears,  and  we 
can  neither  hold  him,  nor  safely  let  him  go. 
Justice  is  in  one  scale,  and  self-preservation 
in  the  other.  Of  one  thing  I  am  certain,  that 
as  the  passage  of  slaves  from  one  State  to  an 
other  would  not  make  a  slave  of  a  single  hu 
man  being  who  would  be  so  without  it,  so 
their  diffusion  over  a  greater  surface  would 
make  them  individually  happier,  and  propor 
tionally  facilitate  the  accomplishment  of  their 
emancipation,  by  dividing  the  burden  on  a 
greater  number  of  coadjutors.  An  abstinence, 
too,  from  this  act  of  power,  would  remove  the 
jealousy  excited  by  the  undertaking  of  Con 
gress  to  regulate  the  condition  of  the  different 
descriptions  of  men  composing  a  State.  This 
certainly  is  the  exclusive  right  of  every  State, 
which  nothing  in  the  Constitution  has  taken 
from  them,  and  given  to  the  General  Govern 
ment.  Could  Congress,  for  example,  say  that 
the  non-freemen  of  Connecticut  shall  be  free 
men,  or  that  they  shall  not  emigrate  into  any 
other  State? — Page  323. 

To  J.  Adams.  \Exti -act. .] 
Our  anxieties  in  this  quarter  are  all  concen 
trated  in  the  question,  what  does  the  Holy 
Alliance  in  and  out  of  Congress  mean  to  do 
with  us  on  the  Missouri  question  ?  And  this, 
by  the  bye,  is  but  the  name  of  the  case ;  it  is 
only  the  John  Doe  or  Richard  Roe  of  the  eject 
ment.  The  real  question,  as  seen  in  the  States 
afflicted  with  the  unfortunate  population,  is, 
are  our  slaves  to  be  presented  with  freedom 
and  a  dagger?  For  if  Congress  has  the  power 
to  regulate  the  conditions  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  States,  within  the  States,  it  will  be  but 
another  exercise  of  that  power,  to  declare  that 
all  shall  be  free.  Are  we  then  to  see  again 
Athenian  and  Lacedemonian  Confederacies? 
To  wage  another  Peloponnesian  war  to  settle 
the  ascendency  between  them?  Or  is  this  the 
tocsin  of  merely  a  servile  war?  That  remains 
to  be  seen ;  but  not,  I  hope,  by  you  or  me. 
Surely  they  will  parley  awhile,  and  give  us 
time  to  get  out  of  the  way.  What  a  Bedlamite 
is  man! — Page  338, 


To  M.  de  Lafayette.  [Extract.] 
On  the  eclipse  of  Federalism  with  us,  al 
though  not  its  extinction,  its  leaders  got  up 
the  Missouri  question,  under  the  false  front  of 
lessening  the  measure  of  slavery,  but  with  the 
real  view  of  producing  a  geographical  division 
of  parties,  which  might  insure  them  the  next 
President.  The  people  of  the  North  went  blind 
fold  into  the  snare,  followed  their  leaders  for 
a  while  with  a  zeal  truly  moral  and  laudable, 
until  they  became  sensible  that  they  were  in 
juring  instead  of  aiding  the  real  interests  of 
the  slaves,  that  they  had  been  used  merely  as 
tools  for  electioneering  purposes;  and  that 
trick  of  hypocrisy  then  fell  as  quickly  as  it 
had  been  got  up. — Page  384. 

To  Jared  Sparks. 
MONTICELLO,  February  4,  1824. 

DEAR  SIR:  I  duly  received  your  favor  of  the 
13th,  and  with  it  the  last  number  of  the  North 
American  Review.  This  has  anticipated  the 
one  I  should  receive  in  course,  but  have  not 
yet  received,  under  my  subscription  to  the  new 
series.  The  article  on  the  African  coloniza 
tion  of  the  people  of  color,  to  which  you  invite 
my  attention,  I  have  read  with  much  consid 
eration.  It  is,  indeed,  a  fine  one,  and  will  do 
much  good.  I  learn  from  it  more,  too,  than  I 
had  before  known,  of  the  degree  of  success  and 
promise  of  that  colony.  In  the  disposition  of 
these  unfortunate  people,  there  are  two  rational 
objects  to  be  distinctly  kept  in  view.  1.  The 
establishment  of  a  colony  on  the  coast  of  Afri 
ca,  which  may  introduce  among  the  aborigines 
the  arts  of  cultivated  life,  and  the  blessings  of 
civilization  and  science.  By  doing  this,  we 
may  make  to  them  some  retribution  for  tU3 
long  course  of  injuries  we  have  been  commit 
ting  on  their  population.  And  considering 
that  these  blessings  will  descend  to  the  "nati 
natorum,  et  qui  nascentur  ab  illis,"  we  shall  in 
the  long  run  have  rendered  them  perhaps  more 
good  than  evil.  To  fulfil  this  object,  the  colo 
ny  of  Sierra  Leone  promises  well,  and  that  of 
Mesurado  adds  to  our  prospect  of  success. 
Under  this  view,  the  Colonization  Society  is 
to  be  considered  as  a  missionary  society,  hav 
ing  in  view,  however,  objects  more  humane, 
more  justifiable,  and  less  aggressive  on  the 
peace  of  other  nations,  than  the  others  of  that 
appellation. 

The  seco-nd  object,  and  the  most  interesting 
to  us,  as  coming  home  to  our  physical  and 
moral  characters,  to  our  happiness  and  safety, 
is  to  provide  an  asylum,  to  which  we  can,  by 
degrees,  send  the  whole  of  that  population 
from  among  us,  and  establish  them  under  our 
patronage  and  protection,  as  a  separate,  free, 
and  independent  people,  in  some  country  and 
climate  friendly  to  human  life  and  happiness. 
That  any  place  on  the  coast  of  Africa  should 
answer  the  latter  purpose,  I  have  ever  deemed 
entirely  impossible.  And  without  repeating 
the  other  arguments  which  have  been  urged 
by  others,  I  will  appeal  to  figures  only,  which 
admit  of  no  controversy.  I  shall  speak  in 
round  numbers,  not  absolutely  accurate,  yet 


36 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


not  so  wide  from  truth  as  to  vary  the  result 
materially.  There  are  in  the  United  States  a 
million  and  a  half  of  people  of  color  in  sla 
very.  To  send  off  the  whole  of  these  at  once, 
nobody  conceives  to  be  practicable  for  us,  or 
expedient  for  them.  Let  us  take  twenty-five 
years  for  its  accomplishment,  within  which 
time  they  will  be  doubled.  Their  estimated 
value  as  property,  in  the  first  place,  (for  actual 
property  has  been  lawfully  vested  in  that  form, 
and  who  can  lawfully  take  it  from  the  possess 
ors?)  at  an  average  of  two  hundred  dollars 
each,  young  and  old,  would  amount  to  six 
hundred  millions  of  dollars,  which  must  be 
paid  or  lost  by  somebody.  To  this,  add  the 
cost  of  their  transportation  by  land  and  sea 
to  Mesurado,  a  year's  provision  of  food  and 
clothing,  implements  of  husbandry  and  of  their 
trades,  which  will  amount  to  three  hundred 
millions  more,  making  thirty-six  millions  of 
dollars  a  year  for  twenty-five  years,  with  in 
surance  of  peace  all  that  time,  and  it  is  impos 
sible  to  look  at  the  question  a  second  time.  I 
am  a\vare  that,  at  the  end  of  about  sixteen 
years,  a  gradual  detraction  from  this  sum  will 
commence,  from  the  gradual  diminution  of 
breeders,  and  go  on  during  the  remaining  nine 
years.  Calculate  this  deduction,  and  it  is  still 
impossible  to  look  at  the  enterprise  a  second 
time. 

I  do  not  say  this  to  induce  an  inference 
that  the  getting  rid  of  them  is  forever  impos 
sible  ;  for  that  is  neither  my  opinion  nor  my 
hope ;  but  only  that  it  cannot  be  done  in  this 
way.  There  is,  I  think,  a  way  in  which  it  can 
be  done — that  is,  by  emancipating  the  after- 
born,  leaving  them,  on  due  compensation,  with 
their  mothers,  until  their  services  are  worth 
their  maintenance,  and  then  putting  them  to 
industrious  occupations  until  a  proper  age 
for  deportation.  This  was  the  result  of  my 
reflections  on  the  subject  five-and-forty  years 
ago,  and  I  have  never  yet  been  able  to  conceive 
any  other  practicable  plan.  It  was  sketched 
in  the  Notes  on  Virginia,  under  the  fourteenth 
query.  The  estimated  value  of  the  new-born 
infant  is  so  low,  (say  twelve  dollars  and  fifty 
cents,)  that  it  would  probably  be  yielded  by 
the  owner  gratis,  and  would  thus  reduce  the 
six  hundred  millions  of  dollars — the  first  head 
of  expense — to  thirty-seven  millions  and  a  half; 
leaving  only  the  expenses  of  nourishment  while 
with  the  mother,  and  of  transportation.  And 
from  what  fund  are  these  expenses  to  be  fur 
nished  ?  Why  not  from  that  of  the  lands  which 
have  been  ceded  by  the  very  States  now  need 
ing  this  relief? — and  ceded  on  no  considera 
tion,  for  the  most  part,  but  that  of  the  general 
good  of  the  whole.  These  cessions  already 
constitute  one-fourth  of  the  States  of  the 
Union.  It  may  be  said  that  these  lands  have 
been  sold,  are  now  the  property  of  the  citizens 
composing  those  States,  and  the  money  long 
ago  received  and  expended.  But  an  equiva 
lent  of  lands  in  the  territories  since  acquired 
may  be  appropriated  to  that  object,  or  so  much, 
at  least,  as  may  be  sufficient;  and  the  object, 
although  more  important  to  the  slave  States, 


is  highly  so  to  the  others  also,  if  they  were 
serious  in  their  arguments  on  the  Missouri 
question.  The  slave  States,  too,  if  more  in 
terested,  would  also  contribute  more  by  their 
gratuitous  liberation,  thus  taking  on  themselves 
alone  the  first  and  heaviest  item  of  expense. 
In  the  plan  sketched  in  the  Notes  on  Virginia, 
no  particular  place  of  asylum  was  specified, 
because  it  was  thought  possible  that,  in  the  rey- 
olutionary  state  of  America,  then  commenced, 
events  might  open  to  us  some  one  within  prac 
ticable  distance.  This  has  now  happened.  St. 
Domingo  has  become  independent,  and  with  a 
population  of  that  color  only;  and  if  the  pub 
lic  papers  are  to  be  credited,  their  chief  offars 
to  pay  their  passage,  to  receive  them  as  free 
citizens,  and  to  provide  them  employment. 
This  leaves,  then,  for  the  general  Confederacy, 
no  expense  but  of  nurture  with  the  mother  a 
few  years,  and  would  call,  of  course,  for  a  very 
moderate  appropriation  of  the  vacant  lands. 
Suppose  the  whole  annual  increase  to  be  of 
sixty  thousand  effective  births ;  fifty  vessels, 
of  four  hundred  tons  burden  each,  constantly 
employed  in  that  short  run,  would  carry  off 
the  increase  of  every  year,  and  the  old  stock 
would  die  off  in  the  ordinary  course  of  nature, 
lessening  from  the  commencement  until  its 
final  disappearance.  In  this  way,  no  violation 
of  private  right  is  proposed.  .  Voluntary  sur 
renders  would  probably  come  in  as  fast  as  the 
means  to  be  provided  for  their  care  would  be 
competent  to  it.  Looking  at  my  own  State 
only — and  I  presume  not  to  speak  for  the 
others — I  verily  believe  that  this  surrender  of 
property  would  not  amount  to  more,  annually, 
than  half  our  present  direct  taxes,  to  be  con 
tinued  fully  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  years, 
and  then  gradually  diminishing  for  as  many 
more,  until  their  final  extinction;  and  even 
this  half  tax  would  not  be  paid  in  cash,  but 
by  the  delivery  of  an  object  which  they  have 
never  yet  known  or  counted  as  part  of  their 
property;  and  those  not  possessing  the  object 
will  be  called  on  for  nothing.  I  do  not  go 
into  all  the  details  of  the  burdens  and  benefits 
of  this  operation.  And  who  could  estimate 
its  blessed  effects?  I  leave  this  to  those  who 
will  live  to  see  their  accomplishment,  and  to 
enjoy  a  beatitude  forbidden  to  my  age.  But  I 
leave  it  with  this  admonition,  to  rise  and  be 
doing.  A  million  and  a  half  are  within  their 
control;  but  six  millions,  (which  a  majority 
of  those  now  living  will  see  them  attain,)  and 
one  million  of  these  fighting  men,  will  say, 
"We  will  not  go." 

I  am  aware  that  this  subject  involves  some 
constitutional  scruples;  but  a  liberal  construc 
tion,  justified  by  the  object,  may  go  far,  and 
an  amendment  of  the  Constitution  the  whole 
length  necessary.  The  separation  of  infants 
from  their  mothers,  too,  would  produce  some 
scruples  of  humanity ;  but  this  would  be  strain 
ing  at  a  gnat,  and  swallowing  a  camel. 

I  am  much  pleased  to  see  that  you  have 
taken  up  the  subject  of  the  duty  on  imported 
books.  I  hope  a  crusade  will  be  kept  up 
against  it,  until  those  in  power  shall  become 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


37 


sensible  of  this  stain  on  our  legislation,  and 
shall  wipe  it  from  their  code,  and  from  the  re 
membrance  of  man,  if  possible. 

I  salute  you  with  assurances  of  high  respect 
and  esteem.  TH.  JEFFERSON. 

\Page  388.] 

Extract  from  a  letter,  written  by  Thomas  Jeffer 
son,  addressed  to  Edward  Coles. 

I  had  always  hoped  that  the  younger  gener 
ation,  receiving  their  early  impressions  after 
the  flame  of  liberty  had  been  kindled  in  every 
breast,  and  had  become,  as  it  were,  the  vital 
spark  of  every  American,  that  the  generous 
temperament  of  youth,  analogous  to  the  mo 
tion  of  their  blood,  and  above  the  suggestions 
of  avarice,  would  have  sympathized  with  op 
pression  wherever  found,  and  proved  their  love 
of  liberty  beyond  their  own  share  of  it. 

But  my  intercourse  with  them,  since  my 
return,  has  not  been  sufficient  to  ascertain 
that  they  had  made,  towards  this  point,  the 
progress  I  had  hoped.  Your  solitary  but  wel 
come  voice  is  the  first  which  has  brought  this 
sound  to  my  ear;  and  I  have  considered  the 
general  silence  which  prevails  on  this  subject 
as  indicating  an  apathy  unfavorable  to  every 
hope.  Yet  the  hour  of  emancipation  is  ad 
vancing,  in  the  march  of  time.  It  will  come; 
and,  whether  brought  on  by  the  generous  en 
ergies  of  our  own  minds,  or  by  the  bloody 
process  of  St.  Domingo,  excited  and  conducted 
by  the  power  of  our  present  enemy,  if  once 
stationed  permanently  withki  our  country, 
and  offering  asylum  and  arms  to  the  oppressed, 
is  a  leaf  of  our  history  not  yet  turned  over. 

As  to  the  method  by  which  this  difficult 
work  is  to  be  effected,  if  permitted  to  be  done 
by  ourselves,  I  have  seen  no  proposition  so  ex 
pedient,  on  the  whole,  as  that  of  emancipation 
of  those  born  after  a  given  day,  and  of  their 
education  and  expatriation  at  a  proper  age. 

I  am  sensible  of  the  partialities  with  which 
yon  have  looked  towards  me,  as  the  person 
who  should  undertake  this  salutary  but  ardu 
ous  work.  But  this,  my  dear  sir,  is  like  bid 
ding  old  Priam  to  buckle  the  armor  of  Hector: 
"  Trementibus  aevo  humeris  et  inutile  ferrum  cin- 
gitur."  No ;  I  have  overlived  the  generation 
with  which  mutual  labors  and  perils  beget 
mutual  confidence  and  influence.  This  enter 
prise  is  for  the  young — for  those  who  can  fol 
low  it  up,  and  bear  it  through  to  its  consum 
mation. 

It  shall  have  all  my  prayers,  and  these  are 
the  only  weapons  of  an  old  man;  but,  in  the 
mean  time,  are  you  right  in  abandoning  this 
property,  and  your  country  with  it?  I  think 
not. 

My  opinion  has  ever  been,  that  until  more 
can  be  done  for  them,  we  should  endeavor, 
with  those  whom  fortune  has  thrown  on  our 
hands,  to  feed  and  clothe  them  well,  protect 
them  from  ill  usage,  require  such  reasonable 
labor  only  as  is  performed  by  free  men,  and  be 
led  by  no  repugnances  to  abdicate  them,  and 
our  duties  to  them.  The  laws  do  not  permit 
us  to  turn  them  loose,  if  that  were  for  their 


good;  and  to  commute  them  for  other  proper 
ty  is  to  commit  them  to  those  whose  usage  to 
them  we  cannot  control.  I  hope,  then,  my  dear 
sir,  you  will  reconcile  yourself  to  your  country 
and  its  unfortunate  condition,  and  that  you 
will  not  lessen  its  stock  of  sound  disposition 
by  withdrawing  your  proportion  from  the 
mass;  that,  on  the  contrary,  you  will  come 
forward  in  the  public  councils,  become  the  mis 
sionary  of  the  doctrine  truly  Christian,  insinu 
ate  and  inculcate  it  softly  but  steadily,  through 
the  medium  of  writing  and  conversation,  asso 
ciate  others  in  your  labors,  and  when  the 
phalanx  is  formed,  bring  on  and  press  the 
proposition  perseveringly  until  its  accomplish 
ment.  It  is  an  encouraging  observation,  that 
no  good  measure  was  ever  proposed,  which,  if 
duly  pursued,  failed  to  prevail  in  the  end.  We 
have  proof  of  this,  in  the  history  of  the  en 
deavors  of  the  British  Parliament  to  suppress 
that  very  trade  which  brought  this  evil  on  us. 
And  you  will  be  supported  by  the  religious 
precept,  "Be  not  weary  in  well-doing."  That 
your  success  may  be  speedy  and  complete,  as 
it  will  be  of  honorable  and  immortal  consola 
tion,  I  shall  fervently  and  sincerely  pray,  as  I 
assure  you  of  my  great  friendship  and  respect. 
THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 


The  people  of  North  Carolina  are  justly  proud 
of  the  fame  of  the  wise  and  good  Judge  Gaston. 
He  was  distinguished  alike  for  talents,  attain 
ments,  and  moral  worth.  They  will  therefore 
receive,  with  attention  and  respect,  his  warn 
ing  admonition  upon  the  subject  of  slavery. 
In  an  address  to  the  students  of  the  University 
at  Chapel  Hill,  in  June,  1832,  he  used  the  fol 
lowing  language : 

On  you,  too,  will  devolve  the  duty,  which 
has  been  too  long  neglected,  but  which  can 
not  with  impunity  be  neglected  much  longer, 
of  providing  for  the  migration  and  (is  it  too 
much  to  hope  for  in  North  Carolina?)  for  the 
ultimate  extirpation  of  the  worst  evil  that  af 
flicts  the  Southern  part  of  our  Confederacy. 
Full  well  do  you  know  to  what  I  refer ;  for  on 
this  subject  there  is,  with  all  of  us,  a  morbid 
sensitiveness  which  gives  warning  even  of  an 
approach  to  it.  Disguise  the  truth  as  we  may, 
and  throw  the  blame  where  we  will,  it  is  sla 
very  which,  more  than  any  other  cause,  keeps 
us  back  in  the  career  of  improvement.  It 
stifles  industry  and  represses  enterprise ;  it  is 
fatal  to  economy  and  providence;  it  discour 
ages  skill,  impairs  our  strength  as  a  commu 
nity,  and  poisons  morals  at  the  fountain  head. 
How  this  evil  is  to  be  encountered,  how  sub 
dued,  is  indeed  a  difficult  and  delicate  in 
quiry,  which  this  is  not  the  time  to  examine 
nor  the  occasion  to  discuss.  I  felt,  however, 
that  I  could  not  discharge  my  duty  \vithout 
referring  to  this  subject,  as  one  which  ought 
to  engage  the  prudence,  moderation,  and  firm 
ness,  of  those  who  sooner  or  later,  must  act 
decisively  upon  it. 


38 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


ANNALS  OF  FIRST  CONGRESS. 

THURSDAY,  FEBRUARY  11,  1790. 

Mr.  Fitzsimmons  presented  the  address  to 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
the  United  States,  of  the  people  called  Quakers, 
in  their  annual  assembly  convened;  signed  in 
and  on  behalf  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  for  Penn 
sylvania,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  and  the  west 
ern  parts  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  held  by 
adjournments  from  the  28th  day  of  the  ninth 
month,  to  the  3d  day  of  the  tenth  month,  in 
clusive,  1789,  by  Nicholas  Wain,  clerk  to  the 
meeting  this  year. 

Mr.  Lawrence  also  presented  an  address  from 
the  Society  of  Friends  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
in  which  they  set  forth  their  desire  of  co-ope 
rating  with  their  Southern  brethren  in  their 
protest  against  the  slave  trade. 

Mr.  Hartley,  of  Pa.,  moved  to  refer  the  ad 
dress  of  the  annual  assembly  of  Friends,  held 
at  Philadelphia,  to  a  committee.  He  thought 
it  a  mark  of  respect  due  to  so  numerous  and 
repectable  a  part  of  the  community. 

Mr.  White,  of  Va.,  seconded  the  motion. 

Mr.  Parker,  of  Va.  I  hope,  Mr.  Speaker, 
the  petition  of  these  respectable  persons  will 
be  attended  to  with  all  the  readiness  the  im 
portance  of  its  objects  demands;  and  I  cannot 
help  expressing  the  pleasure  I  feel  in  finding 
so  considerable  a  part  of  the  community  at 
tending  to  matters  of  such  momentous  concern 
to  the  future  prosperity  and  happiness  of  the 
people  of  America.  I  think  it  my  duty,  as  a 
citizen  of  the  Union,  to  espouse  their  cause ; 
and  it  is  incumbent  upon  every  member  of  this 
House  to  sift  the  subject  well,  and  to  ascertain 
what  can  be  done  to  restrain  a  practice  so  ne 
farious.  The  Constitution  has  authorized  us 
to  levy  a  tax  upon  the  importation  of  such 
persons  as  the  States  shall  authorize  to  be  ad 
mitted.  I  would  willingly  go  to  that  extent; 
and  if  anything  further  can  be  devised  to  dis 
countenance  the  trade,  consistent  with  the 
terms  of  the  Constitution,  I  shall  cheerfully 
give  it  my  assent  and  support. 

Mr.  Madison,  of  Va.  The  gentleman  from 
Pennsylvania  [Mr.  Fitzsimmons]  has  put  this 
question  on  its  proper  ground.  If  gentlemen 
do  not  mean  to  oppose  the  commitment  to 
morrow,  they  may  as  well  acquiesce  in  it  to 
day;  and  I  apprehend  gentlemen  need  not  be 
alarmed  at  any  measure  it  is  likely  Congress 
will  take ;  because  they  will  recollect  that  the 
Constitution  secures  to  the  individual  States 
the  right  of  admitting,  if  they  think  proper, 
the  importation  of  slaves  into  their  own  terri 
tory,  for  eighteen  years  yet  unexpired;  sub 
ject,  however,  to  a  tax,  if  Congress  are  dis 
posed  to  impose  it,  of  not  more  than  ten  dollars 
on  each  person.  The  petition,  if  I  mistake 
not,  speaks  of  artifices  used  by  self-interested 
persons  to  carry  on  this  trade;  and  the  peti 
tion  from  New  York  states  a  case  that  may 
require  the  consideration  of  Congress.  If 
anything  is  within  the  Federal  authority  to 
restrain  such  violation  of  the  rights  of  nations 
and  of  mankind  as  is  supposed  to  be  practiced 


in  some  parts  of  the  United  States,  it  will  cer 
tainly  tend  to  the  interest  and  honor  of  the 
community  to  attempt  a  remedy,  and  is  a 
proper  subject  for  our  discussion.  It  may  be 
that  foreigners  take  the  advantage  of  the  lib 
erty  afforded  them  by  the  American  trade,  to 
employ  our  shipping  in  the  slave  trade  between 
Africa  and  the  West  Indies,  when  they  are  re 
strained  from  employing  their  own  by  restric 
tive  laws  of  their  nation.  If  this  is  the  case, 
is  there  any  person  of  humanity  that  would 
not  wish  to  prevent  them?  Another  consid 
eration  why  we  should  commit  the  petition  is, 
that  we  may  give  no  ground  of  alarm  by  a 
serious  opposition,  as  if  we  were  about  to  take 
measures  that  were  unconstitutional. — Pages 
1182  to  1191. 

FRIDAY,  FEBRUARY  12,  1790. 

The  following  memorial  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Society  for  promoting  the  Abolition  of  Sla 
very,  the  relief  of  free  negroes  unlawfully  held 
in  bondage,  and  the  improvement  of  the  con 
dition  of  the  African  race,  was  presented  and 
read: 

The  memorial  respectfully  showeth — 

That,  from  a  regard  for  the  happiness  of 
mankind,  an  association  was  formed  several 
years  since,  in  this  State,  by  a  number  of  her 
citizens,  of  various  religious  denominations, 
for  promoting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  for 
the  relief  of  those  unlawfully  held  in  bondage. 
A  just  and  acute  conception  of  the  true  princi 
ples  of  liberty* as  it  spread  through  the  land, 
produced  accessions  to  their  numbers,  many 
friends  to  their  cause,  and  a  legislative  co 
operation  with  their  views,  which,  by  the 
blessings  of  Divine  Providence,  have  been 
successfully  directed  to  the  relieving  from 
bondage  a  large  number  of  their  fellow  crea 
tures  of  the  African  race.  They  have  also  the 
satisfaction  to  observe,  that  in  consequence 
of  that  spirit  of  philanthropy  and  genuine  lib 
erty  which  is  generally  diffusing  its  beneficial 
influence,  similar  institutions  are  forming,  at 
home  and  abroad. 

That  mankind  are  all  formed  by  the  same 
Almighty  Being,  alike  objects  of  his  care,  and 
equally  designed  for  the  enjoyment  of  happi 
ness,  the  Christian  religion  teaches  us  to  be 
lieve,  and  the  political  creed  of  Americans 
fully  coincides  with  the  position.  Your  memo 
rialists,  particularly  engaged  in  attending  to 
the  distresses  arising  from  slavery,  believe  it 
their  indispensable  duty  to  present  this  sub 
ject  to  your  notice.  They  have  observed,  with 
real  satisfaction,  that  many  important  and 
salutary  powers  are  vested  in  you,  for  "pro 
moting  the  welfare  and  securing  the  blessings 
of  liberty  to  the  people  of  the  United  States;" 
and  as  they  conceive  that  these  blessings 
ought  rightfully  to  be  administered,  without 
distinction  of  color,  to  all  descriptions  of  peo 
ple,  so  they  indulge  themselves  in  the  pleasing 
expectation  that  nothing  which  can  be  done  for 
the  relief  of  the  unhappy  objects  of  their  care 
will  be  either  omitted  or  delayed. 

From  a  persuasion  that  equal  liberty  was 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


39 


originally  the  portion  and  is  still  the  birth 
right  of  all  men,  and  influenced  by  the  strong 
ties  of  humanity  and  the  principles  of  their 
institution,  your  memorialists  conceive  them 
selves  bound  to  use  all  justifiable  endeavors 
to  loosen  the  bands  of  slavery,  and  promote  a 
general  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  freedom. 
Under  these  impressions,  they  earnestly  en 
treat  your  serious  attention  on  the  subject  of 
slavery ;  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  counte 
nance  the  restoration  of  liberty  to  those  un 
happy  men,  who  alone,  in  this  land  of  freedom, 
are  degraded  into  perpetual  bondage,  and  who, 
amidst  the  general  joy  of  surrounding  free 
men,  are  groaning  in  servile  subjection;  that 
you  will  devise  means  ^or  removing  this  in 
consistency  from  the  character  of  the  Ameri 
can  people;  that  you  will  promote  mercy  and 
justice  towards  this  distressed  race,  and  that 
you  will  step  to  the  very  verge  of  the  power 
vested  in  you  for  discouraging  every  species 
of  traffic  in  the  persons  of  our  fellow-men. 

BENJ.  FRANKLIN,  President. 
Philadelphia,  February  3,  1790. 

Mr.  Hartley  then  called  up  the  memorial 
presented  yesterday,  from  the  annual  meeting 
of  Friends  at  Philadelphia,  for  a  second  read 
ing;  whereupon  the  same  was  read  a  second 
time,  and  moved  to  be  committed. 

Mr.  Seney,  of  Md.,  denied  that  there  was 
anything  unconstitutional  in  the  memorial; 
at  least,  if  there  was,  it  had  escaped  his  atten 
tion,  and  he  should  be  obliged  to  the  gentle 
man  to  point  it  out.  Its  only  object  was,  that 
Congress  should  exercise  their  constitutional 
authority  to  abate  the  horrors  of  slavery,  as 
far  as  they  could ;  indeed,  he  considered  that 
all  altercation  on  the  subject  of  commitment 
was  at  an  end,  as  the  House  had  impliedly 
determined  yesterday  that  it  should  be  com 
mitted. 

Mr.  Page,  of  Va.,  was  in  favor  of  the  com 
mitment.  He  hoped  that  the  designs  of  the 
respectable  memorialists  would  not  be  stopped 
at  the  threshold,  in  order  to  preclude  a  fair 
discussion  of  the  prayer  of  the  memorial.  He 
observed  that  gentlemen  had  founded  their 
arguments  upon  a  misrepresentation;  for  the 
object  of  the  memorial  is  not  declared  to  be 
the  total  abolition  of  the  slave  trade,  but  that 
Congress  will  consider  whether  it  be  not  in 
reality  within  their  power  to  exercise  justice 
and  mercy,  which,  if  adhered  to,  they  cannot 
doubt,  must  produce  the  abolition  of  the  slave 
trade.  If,  then,  the  prayer  contained  nothing 
unconstitutional,  he  trusted  the  meritorious 
effort  of  the  petitioners  would  not  be  frus 
trated. 

With  respect  to  the  alarm  that  was  appre 
hended,  he  conjectured  there  was  none;  but 
there  might  be  just  cause,  if  the  memorial  was 
not  taken  into  consideration.  He  placed  him 
self  in  the  case  of  a  slave,  and  said  that,  on 
hearing  that  Congress  had  refused  to  listen  to 
the  decent  suggestions  of  a  respectable  part  of 
the  community,  he  should  infer  that  the  Gen 
eral  Government  (from  which  was  expected 


great  good  would  result  to  every  class  of  citi 
zens)  had  shut  their  ears  against  the  voice  of 
humanity,  and  he  should  despair  of  any  allevi 
ation  of  the  miseries  he  and  his  posterity  had 
in  prospect ;  if  anything  could  induce  him  to 
rebel,  it  must  be  a  stroke  like  this,  impressing 
on  his  mind  all  the  horrors  of  despair.  But 
if  he  was  told  that  application  was  made  in  his 
behalf,  and  that  Congress  was  willing  to  hear 
what  could  be  urged  in  favor  of  discouraging 
the  practice  of  importing  his  fellow-wretches, 
he  would  trust  in  their  justice  and  humanity, 
and  wait  the  decision  patiently.  He  presumed 
that  these  unfortunate  people  would  reason  m 
the  same  way;  and  he  therefore  conceived  the 
most  likely  way  to  prevent  danger  was  to  com 
mit  the  petition.  He  lived  in  a  State  which 
had  the  misfortune  of  having  in  her  bosom  a 
great  number  of  slaves ;  he  held  many  of  them 
himself,  and  was  as  much  interested  in  the 
business  as  any  gentleman  in  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia ;  yet  if  he  was  determined  to  hold 
them  in  eternal  bondage,  he  should  feel  no 
uneasiness  or  alarm  on  account  of  the  present 
measure,  because  he  should  rely  upon  the  vir 
tue  of  Congress,  that  they  would  not  exercise 
any  unconstitutional  authority. 

Mr.  Madison,  of  Va.  The  debate  has  takea 
a  serious  turn,  and  it  will  be  owing  to  this 
alone  if  an  alarm  is  created;  for,  had  th# 
memorial  been  treated  in  the  usual  way,  it 
would  have  been  considered,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  and  a  report  might  have  been  made, 
so  as  to  have  given  general  satisfaction.  If 
there  was  the  slightest  tendency,  by  the  com 
mitment,  to  break  in  upon  the  Constitution, 
he  would  object  to  it;  but  he  did  not  see  upon 
what  ground  such  an  event  was  to  be  appre 
hended.  The  petition  prayed,  in  general  terms, 
for  the  interference  of  Congress,  so  far  as  they 
were  constitutionally  authorized;  but  even  if 
its  prayer  was  in  some  degree  unconstitution 
al,  it  might  be  committed,  as  was  the  case  on 
Mr.  Churchman's  petition — one  part  of  which 
was  supposed  to  apply  for  an  unconstitutional 
interference  by  the  General  Government.  He 
admitted  that  Congress  is  restricted  by  the 
Constitution  from  taking  measures  to  abolish 
the  slave  trade ;  yet  there  are  a  variety  of  ways 
by  which  it  could  countenance  the  abolition,  and 
regulations  might  be  made  in  relation  to  the  in 
troduction  of  them  into  the  new  States  to  be  formed 
out  of  the  Western  Territory.  He  thought  the 
object  well  worthy  of  consideration. 

The  question  on  the  commitment  being 
about  to  be  put,  the  yeas  and  nays  were  called 
for,  and  were  as  follows : 

YEAS  —  Messrs.  Ames,  Benson,  Boudinot, 
Brown,  Cadwalader,  Clymer,  Fitzsimrnons, 
Floyd,  Foster,  Gale,  Gerry,  Gilman,  Goodhuef 
Griffin,  Grout,  Hartley,  Hathorn,  Heister,  Hun- 
tington,  Lawrence,  Lee,  Leonard,  Livermore, 
Madison,  Moore,  Muhlenburg,  Page,  Parker, 
Partridge,  Rensselaer,  Schureman,  Scott,  Sedg- 
wick,  Seney,  Sherman,  Sinnickson,  Smith  of 
Maryland,  Sturgis,  Thatcher,  Trumbull,  Wads- 
worth,  White,  and  Wynkoop — 43. 

NAYS — Messrs.  Baldwin,  Bland,  Burke,  Coles, 


40 


Huger,  Jackson,   Matthews,   Sylvester,   Smith 
of  South  Carolina,  Stone,  and  Tucker — 11. 

The  memorials  were  referred  accordingly. 

[I\tycs  1197  to  1205,  inclusive.'} 

FRIDAY,  MARCH  5,  1790. 
Mr.  Foster,  from  the  committee  appointed 
for  the  jmrpose,  made  a  report  on  the  petitions 
of  the  people  called  Quakers,  and  also  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Society  for  Promoting  the  Aboli 
tion  of  Slavery. — Page  1413. 

MONDAY,  MARCH  8,  1790. 
Mr.  Hartley  moved  that  the  report  of  the 
committee  on  the  memorials  of  the  people 
called  Quakers  should  be  taken  up  for  a  second 
reading;  which  motion'  being  adopted,  it  was 
read,  as  follows,  viz : 

REPORT. 

That,  from  the  nature  of  the  matters  con 
tained  in  those  memorials,  they  were  induced 
to  examine  the  powers  vested  in  Congress, 
under  the  present  Constitution,  relating  to 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  are  clearly  of 
opinion — 

First.  That  the  General  Government  is  ex 
pressly  restrained  from  prohibiting  the  import 
ation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now 
existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  until  the 
year  1808. 

Secondly.  That  Congress,  by  a  fair  construc 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  are  equally  restrained 
from  interfering  in  the  emancipation  of  slaves, 
who  already  are,  or  who  may,  within  the  period 
mentioned,  be  imported  into  or  born  within 
any  of  the  said  States. 

Thirdly.  That  Congress  have  no  authority 
to  interfere  in  the  internal  regulations  of  par 
ticular  States,  relative  to  the  instruction  of 
slaves  in  the  principles  of  morality  and  religion, 
to  their  comfortable  clothing,  accommodation, 
and  subsistence;  to  the  regulation  of  their 
marriages,  and  the  prevention  of  the  violation 
of  the  rights  thereof,  or  to  the  separation  of 
children  from  their  parents;  to  a  comfortable 
provision  in  the  case  of  sickness,  age,  or  infirm 
ity,  or  to  the  seizure,  transportation,  or  sale, 
of  free  negroes;  but  have  the  fullest  confidence 
in  the  wisdom  and  humanity  of  the  Legisla 
tures  of  the  several  States,  that  they  will  revise 
their  laws,  from  time  to  time,  when  necessary, 
and  promote  the  objects  mentioned  in  the 
memorials,  and  every  other  measure  that  may 
tend  to  the  happiness  of  slaves. 

Fourthly.  That,  nevertheless,  Congress  have 
authority,  if  they  shall  think  it  necessary,  to 
l<iy,  at  any  time,  a  tax  or  duty,  not  exceeding 
ten  dollars  for  each  person^  of  any  description, 
the  importation  of  whom  shall  be  by  any  of 
the  States  admitted  as  aforesaid. 

Fifthly,  That  Congress  have  authority  to  in 
terdict,  or  (so  far  as  it  is  or  may  be  carried  on 
by  citizens  of  the  United  States,  for  supplying 
foreigners)  to  regulate  the  African  trade,  and 
to  make  provision  for  the  humane  treatment 
of  slaves,  in  all  cases,  while  on  their  passages 
to  the  United  States  or  to  foreign  ports,  as 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


far  as  it  respects  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States. 

Sixthly.  That  Congress  have  also  authority 
to  prohibit  foreigners  from  fitting  out  vessels 
in  any  part  of  the  United  States,  for  transport 
ing  persons  from  Africa  to  any  foreign  port. 

Seventhly.  That  the  memorialists  be  in 
formed  that  in  all  cases,  to  which  the  authority 
of  Congress  extends,  they  will  exercise  it  for 
the  humane  objects  of  the  memorialists,  so  far 
as  they  can  be  promoted  on  the  principles  of 
justice,  humanity,  and  good  policy. 

[Pages  1414  to  1417,  inclusive.} 

WEDNESDAY,  MARCH  17,  1790, 

The  House  again  resolved  itself  into  a  Com 
mittee  of  the  Whole  on  the  report  of  the  com 
mittee  to  whom  was  referred  the  memorial  of 
the  people  called  Quakers,  &c.,  (Mr.  Benson  in 
the  chair.) 

The  question  of  order  was  put,  when  it  was 
determined  that  Mr.  Tucker's  last  amendment 
was  not  in  order. 

The  report  was  then  taken  up  by  paragraphs. 
The  first  proposition  being  read — 

Mr.  White,  of  Va.,  moved  that  it  be  struck 
out.  He  did  this,  he  said,  because  he  was 
against  entering  into  a  consideration,  at  this 
time,  of  the  powers  of  Congress.  He  thought 
it  would  be  time  enough  for  this,  when  the 
powers  are  called  in  question.  He  then  read 
the  next,  which  he  said  was  entirely  unneces 
sary,  as  it  contains  nothing  more  than  what  is 
contained  in  express  terms  in  the  Constitution. 
He  passed  on  to  the  third,  which  he  said  was 
equally  unnecessary;  and  to  the  fourth,  which 
was  provided  for  by  the  Constitution.  He  said 
that  he  should  agree  to  the  fifth  and  sixth, 
with  certain  modifications.  Agreeable  to  this 
idea,  he  offered  those  two  in  a  different  form. 
He  disagreed  to  the  seventh  proposition,  as 
unnecessary  and  improper.  He  concluded  by 
observing  that  his  wish  was  to  promote  the 
happiness  of  all  mankind,  and,  among  the  rest, 
those  who  are  the  objects  of  the  present  con 
sideration;  but  this  he  wished  to  do  in  con 
formity  to  the  principles  of  justice,  and  with  a 
due  regard  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of 
others.  He  would  contribute  all  in  his  power 
to  their  comfort  and  well-being  while  in  n^ 
state  of  slavery;  but  he  was  fully  of  opinion 
that  Congress  has  no  right  to  interfere  in  the 
business,  any  further  than  he  proposed  by  the 
two  propositions  as  modified.  He  did  not, 
however,  anticipate  the  difficulties  from  a  total 
prohibition  which  some  gentlemen  seem  to 
apprehend;  and  if  Congress  had  it  in  their 
power  to  interdict  this  business  at  the  present 
moment,  he  did  not  think  the  essential  inter 
ests  of  the  Southern  States  would  suffer. 
Twenty  years  ago,  he  supposed  the  idea  he 
now  suggested  would  have  caused  universal 
alarm.  Virginia,  however,  about  twelve  years 
since,  prohibited  the  importation  of  negroes 
from  Africa,  and  the  consequences  apprehended 
never  were  realized;  on  the  contrary,  the  agri 
culture  of  that  State  was  never  in  a  more 
flourishing  situation. 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFOEM. 


41 


FRIDAY,  MARCH  19,   1790. 

The  House  then  went  again  into  a  Commit 
tee  on  the  Quakers'  memorial,  &c.  (Mr.  Benson 
in  the  chair.) 

The  fourth  proposition,  respecting  a  duty  of 
ten  dollars  on  slaves  imported,  being  read,  it 
was  moved  that  it  be  struck  out;  which  mo 
tion,  after  much  debate,  was  adopted. 

Several  modifications  of  the  fifth  proposition 
were  offered,  but  the  following,  in  substance, 
offered  by  Mr.  Madison,  was  agreed  to,  viz: 
Congress  have  authority  to  restrain  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  who  are  concerned  in 
the  African  trade,  from  supplying  foreigners 
with  slaves,  and  to  provide  for  their  humane 
treatment  while  on  their  passage  to  the  United 
States. 

The  Committee  then  rose,  and  the  House 
adjourned  till  Monday  next. — Page  1466. 

MONDAY,  MARCH  22,  1790. 

The  House  again  went  into  a  Committee  of 
the  Whole  on  the  Quakers'  memorial,  &c. 
(Mr.  Benson  in  the  chair.) 

The  sixth  article  was  further  discussed. 

Mr.  Scott  commenced  the  debate,  advocating 
the  prayer  of  the  memorialists,  and  was  re 
plied  to  by  several  of  the  Southern  members. — 
Page  1466. 

It  was  moved  that  the  sixth  article  be  struck 
out,  but  the  motion  was  negatived.  The  Com 
mittee  then  agreed  to  the  proposition.  The 
seventh  article  was,  on  motion,  struck  out. 

The  Committee  then  rose,  and  made  their 
report  to  the  House,  which  was  laid  on  the 
table.— Page  1471. 

TUESDAY,  MARCH  23,  1790. 

It  was  then  moved  that  the  House  should 
take  up  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  report  of  (the  committee  to  whom 
was  referred  the  memorials  of  the  people  called 
Quakers,  and  of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for 
Promoting  the  Abolition  of  Slavery. 

This  motion  was  opposed  by  Mr.  Jackson 
of  Ga.,  Mr.  Smith  of  S.  C.,  Mr.  Burke  of  Ga., 
and  Mr.  Bland.  They  severally  observed  that 
the  discussion  of  the  subject  has  already  ex 
cited  a  spirit  of  dissension  among  the  members 
of  the  House,  and  that  every  principle  of  policy 
and  concern  for  the  dignity  of  the  House,  and 
the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  United  States, 
concur  to  show  the  propriety  of  dropping  the 
subject,  and  letting  it  sleep  where  it  is.  On 
the  other  hand,  Mr.  Vining  of  Del.,  Mr.  Hart 
ley  of  Pa.,  and  Mr.  Page  of  Va.,  observed 
that  there  was  the  same  propriety  in  taking 
up  the  subject  at  the  present  moment,  and 
bringing  it  to  a  conclusion,  :^  there  was  for 
first  taking  it  up;  that  it  has  li^en  so  fully  dis 
cussed,  it  cannot  be  suppose- i  gentlemen  will 
go  over  the  same  ground  aguiii;  it  may  soon 
be  determined ;  to  pass  it  over  will  be  unpre 
cedented,  and  will  leave  the  public  mind  in  the 
same  state  of  uncertainty  from  which  so  much 
danger  is  apprehended.  The  motion  for  taking 
up  the  report  was  warmly  contested  in  a 
lengthy  debate,  and  finally  passed  in  the  af 


firmative,  by  a  majority  of  one.  Whereupon, 
on  motion  that  the  said  report  of  the  commit 
tee,  and  also  the  report  of  the  Committee  of 
the  Whole  House,  of  amendments  to  said  re 
port,  be  inserted  on  the  Journal,  it  was  resolved 
n  the  affirmative — 29  votes  to  25.  The  yeas 
and  nays  were  as  follows : 

Those  who  voted  in  the  affirmative  were — 
Messrs.  Boudinot,  Brown,  Cadwalader,  Con- 
tee,  Floyd,  Foster,  Gerry,  Gilman,  Goodhue, 
Griffin,  Hartley,  Hathorn,  Heister,  Huntington, 
Lawrence,  Lee,  Leonard,  Madison,  Muhlen- 
burg,  Parker,  Partridge,  Schureman,  Scott, 
Sedgwick,  Sherman,  Sylvester,  Sinnickson, 
Vining,  and  Wynkoop. 

Those  wrho  voted  in  the  negative  were — 
Messrs.    Ames,    Baldwin,    Benson,    Bland, 
Burke,  Carroll,  Coles,  Gale,  Grout,  Jackson, 
Livermore,  Matthews,  Moore,  Page,  Van  Rens- 
selaer,   Smith  of  Maryland,   Smith   of  South 
arolina,  Stone,   Sturges,   Sumter,   Thatcher, 
Trumbull,  Tucker,  White,  and  Williamson. 

Report  of  the   Committee  of  the   Whole  House. 

The  Committee  of  the  Whole  House,  to  whom 
was  referred  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
memorials  of  the  people  called  Quakers,  and 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Society  for  Promoting 
the  Abolition  of  Slavery,  report  the  following 
amendments : 

Strike  out  the  first  clause,  together  with  the 
recital  thereto,  and  in  lieu  thereof  insert, 
That  the  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall 
think  proper  to  admit,  cannot  be  prohibited 
by  Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  eight." 

Strike  out  the  second  and  third  clauses,  and 
in  lieu  thereof  insert,  "That  Congress  have 
no  authority  to  interfere  in  the  emancipation 
of  slaves,  or  in  the  treatment  of  them  within 
any  of  the  States,  it  remaining  with  the  sev 
eral  States  alone  to  provide  any  regulations 
therein  which  humanity  and  true  policy  may 
require." 

Strike  out  the  fourth  and  fifth  clauses,  and 
in  lieu  thereof  insert,  "That  Congress  have 
authority  to  restrain  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  from  carrying  on  the  African  trade,  for 
the  purpose  of  supplying  foreigners  with  slaves, 
and  of  providing,  by  proper  regulations,  for 
the  humane  treatment,  during  their  passage, 
of  slaves  imported  by  the  said  citizens  into  the 
States  admitting  such  importation." 

Strike  out  the  seventh  clause. — Pagss  1472 
to  1474,  inclusive. 


THIRD  CONGRESS. 
MONDAY,  JANUARY  20,  1794. 

Quakers'  Memorial. 

A  memorial  was  read,  from  the  people  called 
Quakers.  The  substance  of  this  memorial  is, 
to  request  that  Congress  would  pass  a  law  to 
prohibit  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  from 
transporting  slaves  from  the  coast  of  Africa  to 
the  West  India  islands. 

The  petition  was  read  by  the  Speaker. 


42 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


Mr.  Giles  -wished  that  it  might  be  referred 
to  a  select  committee. 

Mr.  Bourne  wished  that  it  should  lie  on  the 
table  for  a  day  or  two.  He  did  not,  by  this, 
mean  to  oppose  the  principle  of  the  memorial ; 
but  he  understood  that  another  of  the  same 
tenor  was  to  be  presented  to  the  Senate.  He 
therefore  wished  that  it  might  be  deferred,  till 
the  House  could  see  whether  the  Senate  should 
take  it  up.  If  they  did  not,  he  should  then 
move  that  it  should  be  referred  to  a  select 
committee. 

The  petition  was  ordered  to  lie  on  the  ta 
ble.—  Page  249. 

TUESDAY,  JANUARY  21,  1794. 
Ordered,  That  the  memorial  of  the  people 
called  Quakers,  at  their  yearly  meeting,  held 
in  Rhode  Island,  in  the  year  1793,  which  lay 
on  the  table,  be  referred  to  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr. 
Ward,  Mr.  Giles,  Mr.  Talbot,  and  Mr.  Grove; 
that  they  do  examine  the  matter  thereof,  and 
report  the  same,  with  their  opinion  thereupon, 
to  the  House. — Page  253. 

TUESDAY,  JANUARY  28,  1794. 

A.  memorial  of  the  delegates  from  the  several 
societies  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  United 
Stated  for  promoting  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
in  convention  assembled,  at  Philadelphia,  on 
the  1st  instant,  was  presented  to  the  House 
and  read,  praying  that  Congress  may  adopt 
such  measures  as  may  be  the  most  effectual 
and  expedient  for  the  abolition  of  the  slave 
trade.  Also,  a  memorial  of  the  Providence 
Society  for  abolishing  the  slave  trade,  to  the 
same  effect. 

Ordered,  That  the  said  memorials  be  referred 
to  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Ward,  Mr.  Giles,  Mr.  Tal 
bot,  and  Mr.  Grove ;  that  they  do  examine  the 
matter  thereof,  and  report  the  same,  with  their 
opinion  thereupon,  to  the  House. — Page  349. 

TUESDAY,  FEBRUARY  11,  1794. 

Mr.  Trumbull,  from  the  committee  to  whom 
were  referred  the  memorials  of  the  people  call 
ed  Quakers,  at  their  yearly  meeting,  held  in 
Rhode  Island,  in  the  year  1793,  of  the  dele 
gates  from  the  several  societies  for  promoting 
the  abolition  of  slavery,  in  convention  assem 
bled,  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  1st  day  of  Janu 
ary  last,  and  of  the  Providence  Society  for 
abolishing  the  slave  trade,  made  a  report; 
wThich  was  read,  and  ordered  to  be  committed 
to  a  Committee  of  the  Whole  House  on  Mon 
day  next. — Page  448. 

MONDAY,  FEBRUARY  17,  1794. 
The  House  resolved  itself  into  a  Committee 
of  the  Whole  House,  on  the  report  of  the  com 
mittee  to  whom  were  referred  the.  memorials  of 
the  people  called  Quakers,  at  their  yearly  meet 
ing,  held  in  Rhode  Island,  in  the  year  1792; 
of  the  delegates  from  the  several  societies  for 
promoting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  in  conven 
tion  assembled,  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  1st  day 
of  January  last;  and  of  the  Providence  Society 
for  abolishing  the  slave  trade;  and,  after  some 


time  spent  therein,  the  Chairman  reported  that 
the  Committee  had  had  the  said  report  under 
consideration,  and  come  to  a  resolution  there 
upon  ;  which  was  twice  read,  and  agreed  to 
by  the  House,  as  follows: 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to 
prepare  and  bring  in  a  bill  or  bills  to  prohibit 
the  fitting  out  of  any  ship  or  vessel,  in  any 
port  of  the  United  States,  either  by  citizens  of 
the  United  States  or  foreigners,  for  the  pur- 
)ose  of  procuring,  from  any  kingdom  or  coun- 
ry,  the  inhabitants  of  such  kingdom  or  coun- 
ry,  to  be  transported  to  any  foreign  parts  or 
)laces  of  the  world,  to  be  sold  or  disposed  of 
as  slaves. 

Ordered,  That  Mr.  Trumbull,  Mr.  Ward,  Mr. 
iles,  Mr.  Talbot,  and  Mr.  Grove,  be  a  com 
mittee  pursuant  to  the  said  resolution. — Page 
455. 

FRIDAY,  FEBRUARY  28,  1794. 
Mr.  Trumbull,  from  the  committee  appointed, 
^resented  a  bill  to  prohibit  the  carrying  on 
;he  steve  trade  from  the  United  States  to  any 
breign  place  or  country;  which  was  read 
twice,  and  committed. — Page  469. 

THURSDAY,  MARCH  6,  1794. 

The  House  went  into  Committee  of  the 
Whole  on  the  bill  to  prohibit  the  carrying  on 
;he  slave  trade  from  the  ports  of  the  United 
States — Mr.  Boudinot  in  the  chair. 

The  two  first  sections  of  the  bill  were  agreed 
to,  with  one  alteration,  moved  by  Mr.  Trum 
bull,  which  was,  to  give  the  District  Court,  as 
well  as  the  Circuit  Courts,  cognizance  of  the 
offence. 

The  third  section — which  relates  to  the 
penalty,  &c. — it  was  moved  should  be  struck 
out. 

This  motion  was  nagatived. 

It  was  then  moved  to  insert  the  word,  foreign 
before  "ship  or  vessel;"  which  was  agreed  to. 

The  Committee  proceeded  through  the  bill, 
which  was  reported  to  the  House  with  sundry 
amendments.  These  were  agreed  to  by  the 
House,  and  the  bill  ordered  to  be  engrossed 
for  a  third  reading. — Page  483. 


DEBATE  ON  EMANCIPATION,  IN  THE  VIR 
GINIA  LEGISLATURE,  IN  1832. 
The  debate  in  the  Virginia  Legislature,  at 
the  session  of  1831-'32,  on  the  subject  of 
Emancipation,  was  occasioned  by  the  South 
ampton  insurrection,  which  occurred  in  the 
preceding  August.  The  minds  of  the  people 
were  awakened  by  that  event  to  the  continual 
insecurity  and  danger  of  a  state  of  society  in 
which  one  half  of  the  people  are  made  the 
natural  enemies  of  the  other;  and  the  press 
almost  unanimously  broke  forth  in  condemna 
tion  of  a  system  to  which  they  justly  traced 
the  dilapidation  and  decay  of  agriculture,  the 
absence  of  arts,  manufactures,  and  internal 
improvements,  and  the  prevalent  ignorance 
among  the  body  of  the  people.  The  condition 
of  Virginia  was  contrasted  with  that  of  the 
Northern  States  in  these  particulars,  and  her 


THE   SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


43 


poverty  and  degeneracy  demonstrated  on  the 
incontestable  authority  of  official  statistics. 
The  delmtc  occupied  many  consecutive  days 
at  the  session,  and  must  be  regarded,  by  all 
who  peruse  it,  as  one  of  the  ablest,  and,  owing 
to  the  vital  importance  of  the  subject,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  that  has  ever  occurred  on 
the  continent.  The  Virginian  of  the  present 
day,  who  would  bury  in  oblivion  all  recollec 
tion  of  this  debate,  is  untrue  to  the  honor  and 
renown  of  his  country.  Nowhere  has  genius 
and  liberty  been  more  closely  allied  than  in 
the  Old  Dominion.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
find  one  illustrious  name  in  all  her  history, 
which  is  not  identified  with  freedom  in  the 
broadest  sense  of  the  term ;  while  those  who 
have  signalized  themselves  as  the  champions 
of  slavery  are  stars  of  a  lesser  magnitude. 

Foremost  in  the  ranks  of  the  Emancipation 
party  was  the  distinguished  editor  of  the  Rich 
mond  Enquirer,  Thomas  Ritchie,  Esq.,  a  gen- 
teman  of  high  character,  a  cool,  cautious,  and 
wary  politician,  whose  influence  was,  perhaps, 
at  that  time  and  subsequently,  greater  than 
that  of  any  man  in  Virginia.  Side  by  side 
with  the  Enquirer  stood  the  Richmond  Whiff, 
edited  by  the  gallant  and  impetuous  John 
Hampden  Pleasants,  a  man  of  brilliant  genius, 
who,  for  dashing  and  racy  editorial  writing, 
has  never  been  excelled  in  this  country.  The 
press  of  Norfolk,  Charlottesville,  and  other 
places,  responded  in  manly  strains  to  the  Rich 
mond  papers :  and  I  believe  I  shall  not  be  in 
vidious  in  saying  that  a  majority  of  enlightened 
men  in  the  State  took  a  decided  stand  in  favor 
of  Emancipation. 

Among  the  most  distinguished  advocates  of 
Emancipation,  in  the  House  of  Delegates,  were 

Mr.  Moore  of  Rockbridge,  Mr.  Boiling  of , 

Mr.  Randolph  of  Albemarle,  Mr.  Rives  of 
Campbell,  General  Brodnax  of  Dinwiddie,  Mr. 
Powell,  Mr.  Faulkner,  and  Mr.  Summers  of 
Kanawha. 

From  the  Richmond  Enquirer,  Jan.  7,   1832. — 

Editorial. 

It  is  probable,  from  what  we  hear,  that  the 
Committee  on  the  Colored  Population  will  re 
port  some  plan  for  getting  rid  of  the  free  peo 
ple  of  color.     But  is  this  all  that  can  be  done? 
Are  we  forever  to  suffer  the  greatest  evil  which 
can  scourge  our  land,  not  only  to  remain,  but 
to  increase  in  its  dimensions?     "  We  may  shut 
our  eyes  and  avert  our  faces,  if  we  please, 
(writes  an  eloquent  South  Carolinian,  on  his 
return  from  the  North,  a  few  weeks  ago,)  but 
there  it  is,  the  dark  and  growing  evil  at  our 
doors;  and  meet  the  question  we  must,  at  no 
distant  day.     God  only  knows  what  it  is  the 
part  of  wise  men  to  do  on  that  momentous 
and  appalling  subject.     Of  this  I  am  very 
sure,  that  the  difference — nothing  short  of 
frightful — between  all  that  exists  on  one  side 
of  the  Potomac  and  all  on  the  other,  is  owing- 
to    that   cause   alone.     The    disease    is    deep 
seated — it  is  at  the  heart's  core — it  is  con 
suming,  and  has  all  along  been  consuming, 
our  vitals ;  and  I  could  laugh — if  I  could  laugh 


on  such  a  subject — at  the  ignorance  and  folly 
of  the  politician  who  ascribes  that  to  an  act 
of  the  Government  which  is  the  inevitable 
effect  of  the  eternal  laws  of  Nature.  What 
is  to  be  done?  Oh!  my  God,  I  do  not  know, 
but  something  must  be  done." 
Yes,  something -must  be  done,  and  it  is  the 
part  of  no  honest  man  to  deny  it — of  no  free 
press  to  affect  to  conceal  it.  When  this  dark 
population  is  growing  upon  us;  when  every 
new  census  is  but  gathering  its  appalling 
numbers  upon  us ;  when,  within  a  period  equal 
to  that  in  which  this  Federal  Constitution  has 
been  in  existence,  these  numbers  will  increase 
to  more  than  two  millions  within  Virginia; 
when  our  sister  States  are  closing  their  doors 
upon  our  blacks  for  sale,  and  when  our  whites 
are  moving  westwardly  in  greater  numbers 
than  we  like  to  hear  of;  when  this,  the  fairest 
land  on  all  this  continent,  for  soil,  and  climate, 
and  situation,  combined,  might  become  a  sort 
of  garden  spot,  if  it  were  worked  by  the  hands 
of  white  men  alone,  can  we,  ought  we,  to  sit 
quietly  down,  fold  our  arms,  and  say  to  each 
other,  "  Well,  well,  this  thing  will  not  come 
to  the  worst  in  our  day;  we  will  leave  it  to 
our  children,  and  our  grandchildren,  and  great 
grandchildren,  to  take  care  of  themselves,  and 
to  brave  the  storm."  Is  this  to  act  like  wise 
men?  Heaven  knows  we  are  no  fanatics — we 
detest  the  madness  which  actuated  the  Amies 
des  Noirs;  but  something  ought  to  be  done. 
Means,  sure  but  gradual,  systematic  but  dis 
creet,  ought  to  be  adopted,  for  reducing  the 
mass  of  evil  which  is  pressing  upon  the  South, 
and  will  still  more  press  upon  her,  the  longer 
it  is  put  off.  We  ought  not  to  shut  our  eyes, 
nor  avert  our  faces,  and,  though  we  speak  al 
most  without  a  hope  that  the  committee  of  the 
Legislature  will  do  anything  at  the  present 
session  to  meet  this  question,  yet  we  say  now, 
in  the  utmost  sincerity  of  our  hearts,  that  our 
wisest  men  cannot  give  too  much  of  their  at 
tention  to  this  subject,  nor  can  they  give  it 
too  soon. 

I  shall  .give  only  a  few  extracts  from  the 
debate.  It  will  be  found  in  full  in  the  Rich 
mond  Enquirer  for  1832,  in  the  State  Depart 
ment. 

Mr.  Moore,  of  Rockbridge,  said:  *  *  * 
Permit  me,  now,  sir,  to  direct  your  attention 
to  some  of  the  evil  consequence^  of  slavery, 
by  way  of  argument  in  favor  of  our  maturely 
deliberating  on  the  whole  subject,  and  adopt 
ing  some  efficient  measures  to  remove  the  cause 
from  which  those  evils  spring.  In  the  first 
place,  I  shall  confine  my  remarks  to  such  of 
those  evils  as  affect  the  white  population  ex 
clusively.  And  even  in  that  point  of  view,  I 
think  that  slavery,  as  it  exists  among  us,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  heaviest  calamity  which  has 
ever  befallen  any  portion  of  the  human  race. 
If  we  look  back  through  the  long  course  of 
flme  which  has  elapsed  since  the  creation  to 
the  present  moment,  we  shall  scarcely  be  able 
to  point  out  a  people  whose  situation  was  not, 


44 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


in  many  respects,  preferable  to  our  own,  and 
that  of  the  other  States  in  which  negro  slavery 
exists.  True,  sir,  we  shall  see  nations  which 
have  groaned  under  the  yoke  of  despotism,  for 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  years;  but  the  in 
dividuals  composing  those  nations  have  en 
joyed  a  degree  of  happiness,  peace,  and  fre,e- 
dom  from  apprehension,  which  the  holders  of 
slaves  in  this  country  can  never  know.  *  *  * 
If,  sir,  we  compare  the  face  of  the  country  in 
Virginia  with  that  of  the  Northern  States,  we 
shall  find  the  result  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  the  latter.  We  shall  see  the  Old  Dominion, 
though  blessed  by  nature  with  all  the  advan 
tages  of  a  mild  climate,  a  fruitful  soil,  and  fine 
navigable  bays  and  rivers,  generally  declining 
in  all  that  constitutes  national  wealth.  In 
that  part  of  the  State  below  tide-water,  the 
whole  face  of  the  country  wears  an  appearance 
of  almost  utter  desolation,  distressing  to  the 
beholder.  Tall  and  thick  forests  of  pines  are 
everywhere  to  be  seen  encroaching  upon  the  j 
once  cultivated  fields,  and  casting  a  deep 
gloom  over  the  land,  which  looks  as  if  nature 
mourned  over  the  misfortunes  of  man. 

Mr.  Rives,  of  Campbell,  said:  *  *  * 
On  the  multiplied  and  desolating  evils  of  sla 
very  he  was  not  disposed  to  say  much.  The 
curse  and  deteriorating  consequences  were 
within  the  observation  and  experience  of  the 
members  of  the  House  and  the  people  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  it  did  seem  to  him  that  there  could 
not  be  two  opinions  about  it.  But  there  were 
strong  objections  to  discussing  this  branch  of 
the  subject  in  its  details,  and  he  would  content 
himself  with  giving  a  brief  attention  to  the 
strange  political  effects  produced  by  the  exist 
ence  of  this  unnatural  connection  of  master 
and  slave,  &c.,  &c. 

Mr.  Powell  said:  *  *  *  I  can  scarce 
ly  persuade  myself  that  there  is  a  solitary 
gentleman  in  this  House  who  will  not  readi 
ly  admit  that  slavery  is  an  evil,  and  that 
its  removal,  if  practicable,  is  a  consummation 
most  devoutly  to  be  wisfied.  I  have  not  heard, 
nor  do  I  expect  to  hear,  a  voice  raised  in  this 
Hall  to  the  contrary.  Sir,  the  gentleman  from 
Buckingham  a  few  days  ago  sketched  to  us, 
and»  sketched  it,  too,  with  a  masterly  hand,  a 
picture  of  the  withering  and  blighting  effects 
of  slavery.  That  picture  is  before  this  House, 
and  I  will  not  attempt  to  add  to  it  a  shade,  or 
another  tint;  I  will  not,  sir,  lest,  instead  of 
adding  to  its  effect,  I  might,  with  a  less  skill 
ful  hand,  diminish  it.  Sir,  Virginia,  the  niuch- 
-loved,  the  venerated  mother  of  us  all,  from 
being  the  first  State  in  this  great  Confederacy, 
is  now  the  third,  possibly  the  fourth;  and  her 
declining  fortunes  have  long  been  the  source 
of  melancholy  reflection  to  her  patriotic  sons. 
What,  sir,  is  the  cause  of  this  decline?  What 
ever  others  may  think,  to  my  mind  it  is  clear 
that  the  answer  to  this  interrogatory  is,  her 
slave  population.  Ilinc  illx  lachrymx.  Here 
lies  the  source  of  all  her  misfortunes.  This  is 
the  clog  that  has  weighed  her  down,  and  pre 
vented  her  onward  march  part  passu  with  her 
sister  States,  in  their  career  of  improvement. 


Mr.  Preston  said :  *  *  *  Sir,  Mr.  Jef 
ferson,  whose  hand  drew  the  preamble  to  the 
Bill  of  Rights,  has  eloquently  remarked  that 
we  had  invoked  for  ourselves  the  benefit  of  a 
principle  which  we  had  denied  to  others.  He 
saw  and  felt  that  slaves,  as  men,  were  embraced 
Avithin  this  principle. 

Mr.  Summers,  of  Kanawha.  *  *  *  But, 
sir,  the  evils  of  this  system  cannot  be  enumer 
ated.  It  were  unnecessary  to  attempt  it. 
They  glare  upon  us  at  every  step.  When  the 
owner  looks  to  his  wasted  estate,  he  knows 
and  feels  them.  When  the  statesman  examines 
the  condition  of  his  country,  and  finds  her 
moral  influence  gone,  her  physical  strength 
diminished,  her  physical  power  waning,  he 
sees  and  must  confess  them.  They  may  be 
viewed,  written  on  the  nations's  map.  Con 
trast  the  condition  of  the  Southern  States  with 
that  which  those  of  the  Northern  and  Middle 
present.  Examine  them  in  relation  to  general 
education,  the  state  of  their  agriculture,  man 
ufactures,  foreign  and  domestic  commerce — 
you  have  here  the  problem  worked  out  on  a 
large  scale.  *  *  *  Sir,  we  should  take 
courage  from  the  goodness  of  the  cause  in 
which  we  are  engaged.  It  is  one  on  which 
Heaven  will  smile.  We  shall  not  be  left  un 
aided  in  our  exertions.  Slavery  is  a  national 
calamity.  Such  it  has  been  regarded  by  those 
who  are  entirely  free  from  the  evil.  Nine  of 
the  non-slaveholding  States  have  generously 
offered  to  the  South  the  common  treasury  for 
the  removal  of  this  common  evil.  Such,  too, 
was  the  purport  of  the  resolutions  submitted 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  by  Rufus 
King,  at  the  close  of  his  long  and  useful  pub 
lic  life. 

Extract  from  the  speech  of  John  A,  Chandler,  of 
Norfolk  County. 

It  is  admitted  by  all  who  have  addressed 
this  House,  that  slavery  is  a  curse,  and  an  in 
creasing  one.  That  it  has  been  destructive  to 
the  lives  of  our  citizens,  history,  with  unerring 
truth,  will  record.  That  its  future  increase 
will  create  commotion,  cannot  be  doubted. 

The  time,  then,  sir,  has  arrived,  when  the 
solus  populi  applies,  and  every  consideration  of 
patriotism  requires  us  to  act  upon  it.  This 
principle — this  fundamental  principle,  the  safe 
ty  of  the  people — embraces  not  only  the  pres 
ent  race,  but  posterity  also.  The  gentleman 
from  Brunswick,  with  great  force  and  elo 
quence,  has  insisted  that  the  master  has  prop 
erty,  not  only  in  the  female  slave,  but  in  the 
issue,  ad  infinitum.  And,  sir,  we  have  an  in 
terest,  not  only  in  our  own  welfare,  but  in 
that  of  our  posterity.  We  are  bound  to  legis 
late  for  them  as  well  as  for  ourselves. 

This  principle,  that  posterity  are  interested 
in  the  acts  of  their  ancestors,  is  recognised  in 
the  Bill  of  Rights,  in  the  very  first  section  of 
it.  That  instrument  is  hallowed  by  its  an 
tiquity — by  the  double  confirmation  of  the 
people  of  this  Dominion.  I  may  say,  it  is  su 
perior  to  the  Constitution  itself,  as  that  pro 
fesses  to  be  based  upon  the  Bill  of  Rights. 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


45 


What  says  that  instrument?  "That  man 
has  certain  inalienable  rights,  of  which,  when 
he  enters  into  society,  he  cannot  by  any  com 
pact  deprive  his  posterity ;  namely,  the  enjoy 
ment  of  life  and  liberty,  with  the  means  of 
acquiring  and  possessing  property,  and  of  pur 
suing  and  obtaining  happiness  and  safety." 
Has  slavery  interfered  with  our  means  of  en 
joying  life,  liberty,  property,  happiness,  and 
safety?  Look  at  Southampton.  The  answer 
is  written  in  letters  of  blood,  upon  the  floors 
of  that  unhappy  county.  Tinker  these  circum 
stances,  may  we  not  inquire  into  the  right  of 
our  ancestors  to  inflict  this  curse  upon  us, 
seeing  that  it  has  interfered  so  essentially  with 
the  first  article  of  the  Bill  of  Rights? 

But,  sir,  will  this  evil — this  curse — not  in 
crease?  Will  not  the  life,  liberty,  prosperity, 
happiness,  smd  safety,  of  those  who  may  come 
after  us  be  endangered,  in  a  still  greater  de 
gree,  by  it?  How,  then,  can  we  reconcile  it 
to  ourselves,  to  fasten  this  upon  them?  Do 
we  not  endanger  our  very  national  existence, 
by  entailing  slavery  upon  them? 

Sir,  the  gentleman  from  Brunswick  very 
emphatically  asked,  "Are  not  our  slaves  our 
property  ?  "  And  the  gentleman  from  Dinwid- 
die,  sustaining  his  position,  said,  in  that  in 
tegrity  and  firmness  which  characterizes  all 
his  actions,  that  he  would  own  no  property 
respecting  which  he  was  afraid  to  show  his 
title  papers.  He  even  invited  discussion  upon 
this  question  of  title  to  slaves  as  property.  As 
a  Virginian,  I  do  not  question  the  master's 
title  to  his  slave;  but  I  put  it  to  the  gentle 
man,  as  a  man,  as  a  moral  man,  as  a  Christian 
man,  whether  he  has  not  some  doubt  of  his 
claim  being  as  absolute  and  unqualified  as  that 
of  other  property?  I  do  this,  not  for  the  pur 
pose  of  raising  an  argument  to  sustain  the 
power  of  the  Legislature  to  remove  them, 
which  I  think  I  have  satisfactorily  shown,  but 
mainly  to  call  his  attention  to  the  title,  that 
if  a  doubt  as  to  that  should  be  created,  it  may 
operate  in  some  measure  in  withdrawing  op 
position  to  the  removal  of  the  slaves.  Let  us, 
sir,  in  the  investigation  of  this  title,  go  back 
to  its  origin.  Whence  came  the  slaves  into  this 
country?  From  Africa.  Were  they  free  men 
there?  At  one  time  they  were.  How  came  they 
to  be  converted  into  slaves?  By  the  stratagem 
of  war  and  the  strong  arm  of  the  conqueror; 
they  were  vanquished  in  battle,  sold  by  the 
victorious  party  to  the  slavo  trader,  who 
brought  them  to  our  shores,  and  disposed  of 
them  to  the  planter  of  Virginia.  Had  the  con 
queror  an  absolute  and  unqualified  right  to  them? 

The  gentleman  from  Campbell,  [Mr.  Daniel,] 
in  arguing  this  part  of  the  subject,  stated  that 
ancient  authors  insisted  upon  two  modes  by 
which  a  free  man  might  become  a  slave,  viz : 
by  voluntary  compact,  and  by  conquest;  but 
he  was  in  the  end  compelled,  by  the  course  of 
his  reasoning,  to  admit  that  those  doctrines 
have  been  exploded  by  modern  writers.  If, 
then,  liberty,  rightfully,  cannot  be  converted 
into  slavery,  may  I  not  question  whether  the 
title  of  the  master  to  the  slave  is  absolute  and 


unqualified,  and  beyond  the  disposition  of  the 
Government?  In  general  cases,  the,  derivative 
title  cannot  be  better  than  the  primitive.  If 
the  warrior  had  no  absolute;  right  to  the  person 
of  his  captive,  may  there  not  be  some  doubt 
whether  the  Virginia  planter  has  an  unquali 
fied  one? 

What,  sir,  would  be  thought,  at  the  present 
day,  if  an  elephant  were  taken,  by  force  or 
fraud,  from  its  true  owner,  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  brought  to  our  country,  and  an 
individual,  knowing  of  the  circumstance,  were 
to  purchase  it — would  it  not  be  said  that  he 
participated  in  the  crime?  Would  not  the  old 
adage,  "that  the  receiver  of  stolen  goods  is  as 
bad  as  the  thief,''  apply?  And,  sir,  is  the  rea 
soning  different  when  the  subject  is  a  human 
being — when  a  man  has  been  taken,  by  force 
or  fraud,  from  his  native  shore,  and  sold  in 
jour  market?  It  maybe  said  that  our  ances 
tors  did  not  know  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  slave  lost  his  liberty.  I  hope  they 
did  not.  It  will,  in  some  measure,  extenuate 
the  crime,  but  cannot  enhance  the  title.  The 
truth  is,  that  our  ancestors  had  no  title  to  this 
property,  and  WG  have  acquired  it  only  by 
legislative  enactments,  sanctioned  by  the  ne 
cessity  of  the  case. 

It  may  be  argued,  that  length  of  time  has 
created  a  title.  Some  thirty  years  ago,  a  frig 
ate,  which  had  been  captured  from  the  French 
by  the  valor  and  skill  of  our  gallant  tars,  after 
having  been  brought  into  port,  was  refitted, 
and  sailed  on  a  cruise;  she  has  never  been 
heard  of  since.  Imagine,  for  a  moment,  that 
it  was  now  announced  to  this  nation  that  the 
ship  had  foundered  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and 
her  crew,  or  part  of  them,  were  alive,  slaves  to 
some  petty  monarch  in  that  country.  Think 
you,  sir,  that  we  would  listen  to  the  plea  of 
length  of  time?  No;  the  voice  of  a  mighty 
people,  with  resistless  force,  would  proclaim 
that  freemen  can  never  be  made  slaves,  and 
the  hum  of  preparation  to  demand  our  long- 
lost  brethren,  would^soon  resound  throughout 
the  land.  And,  sir,  but  for  the  degradation 
and  absence  of  nationality  in  Africa,  one  of 
the  most  interesting  principles  of  international 
law  might  be  presented  to  the  American  peo 
ple,  which  has  ever  engaged  the  attention  of 
the  statesman — a  principle  that  would  be  ad 
vocated  by  the  good  and  wise  throughout  the 
Union.  Were  Africa  erected  into  a  sovereign 
and  independent  State,  and  recognised  as  a 
nation  by  the  potentates  of  the  world,  to  make 
a  demand  upon  our  Government  for  her  long- 
lost  and  enslaved  children,  accompanied  with  a 
recital  of  all  the  circumstances  of  fraud  by 
which  they  were  taken  from  their  native  coun 
try,  it  would  present  a  claim  too  strong  to  be 
discussed — a  demand  too  just  to  be  denied  by 
the  free-born  sons  of  Virginia.  These  reflec 
tions  I  have  thrown  out,  Mr.  Speaker,  in  the 
hope  that,  if  masters  of  slaves  should  perceive 
some  defect  in  their  title,  they  may  be  inclined 
"to  let  them  go." 

I  have,  Mr.  Speaker,  entered  into  but  few 
statistical  details ;  the  course  of  niy  argument, 


46 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


I  trust,  made  it  unnecessary.  One  estimate, 
however,  I  will  mention;  it  is  this:  that  if  the 
slave  population  increases  as  it  has  done  for 
some  years  past,  in  the  year  1880 — less  than 
fifty  years  hence — there  will  be,  in  the  seven 
States  of  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Alabama,  and  Mississippi, 
something  more  than  5,000,000  of  slaves,  of 
which  Virginia  alone  will  possess  largely  up 
wards  of  1,000,000 — an  amount  too  great,  too 
appalling,  for  a  statesman  not  to  apprehend 
some  danger  from.  I  acknowledge,  I  tremble 
for  the  fate  of  my  country  at  some  future  day, 
"unless  wre  do  something!" 

Extracts  from  the  speech  of  Thomas  J.  Randolph, 

of  Albemarle. 

I  will  quote,  in  part,  the  statistics  of  the 
gentleman  from  Dinwiddie,  whose  accuracy 
cannot  be  questioned.  Judging  the  future  by 
the  past,  in  forty  years  the  colored  popula 
tion  in  Eastern  Virginia  will  exceed  the  white 
200,000.  In  the  last  forty  years,  the  whites  in 
the  same  district  have  increased  51  per  cent., 
the  blacks  186  per  cent.  Forty  years  ago,  the 
whites  exceeded  the  colored  25,000;  the  col 
ored  now  exceeds  the  whites  81,000 — a  net 
gain  of  the  blacks  over  the  whites,  in  forty 
years,  of  106,000;  and  these  results,  too,  du 
ring  an  exportation  of  near  260,000  slaves 
since  the  year  1790 — now  perhaps  the  fruitful 
progenitors  of  half  a  million  in  other  States. 
By  reference  to  Document  No.  16,  on  your  ta 
ble,  you  will  perceive  that,  in  the  year  1830, 
of  that  part  of  the  population  of  ten  years  old 
and  under,  the  blacks  exceed  the  whites  26 
per  cent. ;  over  that  age,  only  3  per  cent. 
What  a  change  will  not  eighteen  years  make 
for  the  worse,  when  those  children  shall  be 
grown ;  what  a  change  will  not  forty  years, 
with  its  geometrical  progression,  evolve,  when 
they  shall  become  fathers  and  mothers,  and 
some  of  them  grandmothers?  If  exportation 
ceases,  some  of  those  now  within  the  hearing 
of  my  voice  may  live  to  see  the  colored  popu 
lation  of  Virginia  2,000,000,  or  2,500,000; 
children  now  born  may  live  to  see  them 
3,000,000,  determining  their  increase  by  their 
average  increase  in  the  United  States  in  the 
last  forty  years. 

Sir,  is  not  this  the  case  of  the  salus  populi: 
demonstrated  to  exist  in  the  certain  future? 
Who  will  be  so  hardy  as  to  assert  that,  when 
the  time  arrives,  a  remedy-  can  be  applied? 
Who  will  say  that  2,000,000  can  be  attempted 
to  be  removed?  They  will  say  to  you,  long 
before  that,  "We  will  not  go."  Here,  sir,  ap 
plies  that  wise  maxim  of  the  law,  "  Venienti 
occurite,  morbo,"  (meet  the  coming  ill.) 

The  gentleman  has  spoken  of  the  increase 
of  the  female  slaves  being  a  part  of  the  profit. 
It  is  admitted ;  but  no  great  evil  can  be  averted, 
no  good  attained,  without  some  inconvenience. 
It  may  be  questioned  how  far  it  is  desirable 
to  foster  and  encourage  this  branch  of  profit. 
It  is  a  practice — and  an  increasing  practice 
in  parts  of  Virginia — to  rear  slaves  for  market. 
How  can  an  honorable  mind,  a  patriot,  and  a 


lover  of  his  country,  bear  to  see  this  ancient 
Dominion,  rendered  illustrious  by  the  noble 
devotion  and  patriotism  of  her  sons  to  the 
cause  of  Liberty,  converted  into  one  grand 
menagerie,  where  men  are  to  be  reared  for 
market  like  oxen  in  the  shambles?  Is  it  bet 
ter — is  it  not  worse — than  the  slave  trade — 
that  trade  which  enlisted  the  labor  of  the  good 
and  the  wise  of  every  creed  and  every  olime  to 
abolish  it?  The  trader  receives  the  slave — a 
stranger  in  language,  aspect,  and  manner — 
from  the  merchant,  who  has  brought  him  from 
the  interior.  The  ties  of  father,  mother,  hus 
band,  and  child,  have  all  been  rent  in  twain. 
Before  he  receives  him,  his  soul  has  become 
callous. 

But  here,  sir,  individuals,  whom  the  master 
has  known  from  infancy,  with  whom  he  has 
been  sporting  in  the  innocent  gambols  of 
childhood,  who  has  been  accustomed  to  look 
to  him  for  protection,  he  tears  from  the  moth 
er's  arms,  and  sells  into  a  strange  country, 
among  strange  people,  subject  to  cruel  task 
masters.  In  my  opinion,  sir,  it  is  much  worse. 

He  has  compared  slave  property  to  a  capital 
in  money.  I  wish  it  were  money,  sir,  or  any 
thing  else  than  what  it  is.  It  is  not  money ; 
it  is  labor — it  is  the  labor  which  produces  that 
for  which  money  is  the  representative.  The 
interest  on  money  is  4  to  6  per  cent.  The  hire 
of  male  slaves  is  about  15  per  cent,  upon  their 
value.  In  ten  years,  or  less,  you  have  returned 
your  principal,  with  interest.  Thus  it  is  with 
much  of  the  one  hundred  millions  of  property, 
the  loss  of  which  the  gentleman  has  so  elo 
quently  depicted  in  ruining  the  country.  He 
has  attempted  to  justify  slavery  here,  because 
it  exists  in  Africa,  and  has  stated  that  it  exists 
all  over  the  world.  Upon  the  same  principle, 
he  could  justify  Mahometanism,  with  its  plu 
rality  of  wives,  petty  wars  for  plunder,  rob 
bery,  and  murder,  or  any  other  of  the  abomi 
nations  and  enormities  of  savage  tribes.  Does 
slavery  exist  in  any  part  of  civilized  Europe? 
2Vb,  sir,  in  no  part  of  it.  America  is  the  only 
civilized  Christian  nation  that  bears  the  op 
probrium.  In  every  other  country,  where 
civilization  and  Christianity  have  existed  to 
gether,  they  have  erased  it  from  their  codes, 
they  have  blotted  it  from  the  page  of  their 
history. 

The  gentleman  has  appealed  to  the  Christian 
religion  in  justification  of  slavery.  I  would 
ask  him  upon  what  part  of  those  pure  doc 
trines  does  he  rely,  to  which  of  those  sublime 
precepts  does  he  advert,  to  sustain  his  posi 
tion?  Is  it  that  which  teaches  charity,  jus 
tice,  and  good  will  to  all ;  or  is  it  that  which 
teaches,  "that  ye  do  unto  others  as  ye  would 
they  should  do  unto  you?" 

Extracts  from  the  speech  of  Henry  Berry,  of  Jef 
ferson. 

Sir,  I  believe  that  no  cancer  on  the  physical 
body  was  ever  more  certain,  steady,  and  fatal 
in  its  progress,  than  is  the  cancer  on  the  po 
litical  body  of  the  State  of  Virginia.  It  is  eat 
ing  into  her  very  vitals.  And  shall  we  admit 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


47 


that  the  evil  is  past  remedy?  Shall  we  act 
the  part  of  a  puny  patient,  suffering  under  the 
ravages  of  a  fatal  disease,  who  would  say  the 
remedy  is  too  painful,  the  dose  too  nauseous, 
I  cannot  bear  it;  who  would  close  his  eyes  in 
despair,  and  give  himself  up  to  death?  No, 
sir;  I  would  bear  the  knife  and  the  cautery, 
for  the  sake  of  health. 

I  believe  it  is  high  time  that  this  subject 
should  be  discussed  and  considered  by  the 
people  of  Virginia.  I  believe  that  the  people 
are  awakened  on  the  subject,  but  not  alarmed; 
I  believe  they  will  consider  it  calmly,  and  de 
cide  upon  it  correctly.  Sir,  I  have  no  fears, 
now,  for  any  general  results  from  any  efforts 
at  insurrection,  by  this  unfortunate  class  of 
our  population.  I  know  that  we  have  the 
power  to  crush  any  such  effort  at  a  blow.  I 
know  that  any  such  effort  on  their  part,  at 
this  day,  will  end  in  the  annihilation  of  all 
concerned  in  it;  and  I  believe  our  greatest 
security  now,  is  in  their  knowledge  of  these 
things — in  their  knowledge  of  their  own  weak 
ness. 

Pass  as  severe  laws  as  you  will,  to  keep 
these  unfortunate  creatures  in  ignorance,  it  is 
vain,  unless  you  can  extinguish  that  spark  of 
intellect  which  God  has  given  them.  Let  any 
man  who  advocates  slavery,  examine  the  sys 
tem  of  laws  which  we  have  adopted  (from  stern 
necessity,  it  may  be  said)  towards  these  crea 
tures,  and  he  may  shed  a  tear  upon  that;  and 
would  to  God,  sir,  the  memory  of  it  might  be 
blotted  out  forever.  Sir,  we  have,  as  far  as 
possible,  closed  every  avenue  by  which  light 
might  enter  their  minds ;  we  have  only  to  go 
one  step  further  to  extinguish  the  capacity  to 
see  the  light,  and  our  work  would  be  com 
pleted;  they  would  then  be  reduced  to  the 
level  of  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  we  should 
be  safe;  and  I  am  not  certain  that  we  would 
not  do  it.  if  we  could  find  out  the  necessary 
process — and  that  under  the  plea  of  necessity. 
But,  sir,  this  is  impossible.  And  can  man  be 
in  the  midst  of  freemen,  and  not  know  what 
freedom  is?  Can  he  feel  that  he  has  the  power 
to  assert  his  liberty,  and  will  he  not  do  it? 
Yes,  sir;  with  the  certainty  of  the  current  of 
time  will  he  do  it,  whenever  he  has  the  power. 
Sir,  to  prove  that  the  time  will  come,  I  need 
offer  no  other  argument  than  that  of  arithme 
tic,  the  conclusions  from  which  are  clear  dem 
onstrations  on  this  subject.  The  data  are 
before  us  all,  and  every  man  can  work  out  the 
process  for  himself.  Sir,  a  death-struggle 
must  come  between  the  two  classes,  in  which 
the  one  or  the  other  will  be  extinguished 
forever.  Who  can  contemplate  such  a  catas 
trophe  as  even  possible,  and  be  indifferent? 

Extract  from  the  speech  of  Thomas  Marshall,  of 
Fauquicr. 

Wherefore,  'hen,  object  to  slavery?  Because 
it  is  ruinous  to  the  whites — retards  improve 
ment,  roots  out  an  industrious  population, 
banishes  the  yeomanry  of  the  country,  de 
prives  the  spinner,  the  weaver,  the  smith,  the 
shoemaker,  the  carpenter,  of  employment  and 


support.  The  evil  admits  of  no  remedy.  Tt 
is  increasing,  and  will  continue  to  increase, 
until  the  whole  country  will  be  inundated 
with  one  black  wave,  covering  its  whole  ex 
tent,  with  a  few  white  faces  here  and  there 
floating  on  the  surface.  The  master  has  no 
capital  but  what  is  vested  in  human  flesh ;  the 
father,  instead  of  being  richer  for  his  sons,  is 
at  a  loss  to  prpvide  for  them.  There  is  no 
diversity  of  occupations,  no  incentive  to  en 
terprise.  Labor  of  every  species  is  disreputa 
ble,  because  performed  mostly  by  slaves.  Our 
towns  are  stationary,  our  villages  almost  every 
where  declining ;  and  the  general  aspect  of  the 
country  marks  the  curse  of  a  wasteful,  idle, 
reckless  population,  who  have  no  interest  in 
the  soil,  and  care  not  how  much  it  is  impov 
erished.  Public  improvements  are  neglected, 
and  the  entire  continent  does  not  present  a 
region  for  which  nature  has  done  so  much, 
and  art  so  little. 

Extracts  from  the  speech  of  James  McDowell,  jr., 
of  Rockbridge. 

Who,  sir,  that  looks  at  this  property  as  a 
legislator,  and  marks  its  effect  upon  the  na 
tional  advance,  but  weeps  over  it  as  the  worst 
of  patrimonies?  Who  that  looks  to  this  un 
happy  bondage  of  our  unhappy  people  in  the 
midst  of  our  society,  and  thinks  of  its  inci 
dents  and  its  issues,  but  weeps  over  it  as  a 
curse  upon  him  who  inflicts  as  upon  him  who 
suffers  it? 

If  I  am  to  judge  from  the  tone  of  our  debate, 
from  the  concessions  on  all  hands  expressed, 
there  is  not  a  man  in  this  body — not  one,  per 
haps,  that  is  even  represented  here — who  would 
not  have  thanked  the  generations  that  have 
gone  before  us,  if,  acting  as  public  men,  they 
had  brought  this  bondage  to  a  close — who 
would  not  have  thanked  them,  if,  acting  as 
private  men,  on  private  notions,  they  had  re 
linquished  the  property  which  their  mistaken 
kindness  has  devolved  upon  us.  Proud  as  are 
the  names,  for  intellect  and  patriotism,  which 
enrich  the  volumes  of  our  history,  and  rever 
entially  as  we  turn  to  them  at  this  period  of 
waning  reputation,  that  name,  that  man,  above 
all  parallel,  would  have  been  the  chief,  who 
could  have  blotted  out  this  curse  from  his 
country — those,  above  all  others,  would  have 
received  the  homage  of  an  eternal  gratitude, 
who,  casting  away  every  suggestion  of  petty 
interest,  had  broken  the  yoke  which  in  an  evil 
hour  had  been  imposed,  and  had  translated,  as 
a  free,  man,  to  another  continent,  the  outcast 
and  the  wretched  being  who  burdens  ours  with 
his  presence,  and  defiles  it  with  his  crimes. 

But,  sir,  it  has  been  otherwise  appointed. 
Slavery  has  come  down  to  us  from  our  fathers ; 
and  the  question  now  is,  shall  we,  in  turn, 
hand  it  over  to  our  children — hand  it  over  to 
them,  aggravated  with  every  attribute  of  evil? 
Shall  we  perpetuate  the  calamity  we  deplore, 
and  become  to  posterity  the  objects,  not  of 
kindness,  but  of  cursing? 

Sir,  you  may  place  the  slave  where  you 
please — you  may  dry  up,  to  your  utmost,  the 


48 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


fountains  of  his  feelings,  the  springs  of  his 
thought — you  may  close  upon  his  mind  every 
avenue  to  knowledge,  and  cloud  it  over  with 
artificial  night — you  may  yoke  him  to  your 
labor,  as  an  ox  which  liveth  only  to  work, 
and  worketh  only  to  live — you  may  put  him 
under  any  process,  which,  without  destroying 
his  value  as  a  slave,  will  debase  and  crush  him 
as  a  rational  being — you  may  do  this,  and  the 
idea  that  he  was  born  to  be  free  will  survive 
it  all.  It  is  allied  to  his  hope  of  immortality — 
it  is  the  ethereal  part  of  his  nature,  which 
oppression  cannot  reach — it  is  a  torch  lit  up 
in  his  soul  by  the  hand  of  the  Deit}r,  arid 
never  meant  to  be  extinguished  by  the  hand 
of  man.  *  *  * 

If  gentlemen  do  not  see  nor  feel  the  evil  of 
slavery  whilst  this  Federal  Union  lasts,  they 
will  see  and  feel  it  when  it  is  gone ;  they  will 
see  and  suffer  it  then,  in  a  magnitude  of  deso 
lating  power,  to  which  the  "pestilence  that 
walketh  at  noonday"  would  be  a  blessing — to 
which  the  malaria  that  is  now  threatening  ex 
tinction  to  the  "  eternal  city,"  as  the  proud  one 
of  the  Pontiffs  and  the  Caesars  is  called,  would 
be  as  refreshing  and  as  balmy  as  the  first  breath 
of  spring  to  the  chamber  of  disease. 

It  has  been  frankly  and  unquestionably  de 
clared,  from  the  very  commencement  of  this 
debate,  by  the  most  decided  enemies  of  aboli 
tion  themselves,  as  well  as  others,  that  this 
property  is  an  "evil" — that  it  is  a  dangerous 
property.  Yes,  sir;  so  dangerous  has  it  been 
represented  to  be,  even  by  those  who  desire  to 
retain  it,  that  we  have  been  reproached  for 
speaking  of  it  otherwise  than  in  fireside  whis 
pers — reproached  for  entertaining  debate  upon 
it  in  this  Hall ;  and  the  discussion  of  it  with 
open  doors,  and  to  the  general  ear,  has  been 
charged  upon  us  as  a  climax  of  rashness  and 
folly,  which  threatens  issues  of  calamity  to 
our  country.  It  is,  then,  a  dangerous  prop 
erty.  No  one  disguises  the  danger  of  this 
property — that  it  is  inevitable,  or  that  it  is 
increasing.  How,  then,  is  the  Government  to 
avert  it?  By  a  precautionary  and  preventive 
legislation,  or  by  permitting  it  to  "grow  with 
our  growth"  until  it  becomes  intolerable,  and 
then  correcting  it  by  the  sword?  In  the  one  j 
way  or  the  other — by  the  peaceful  process  of 
legislation  or  the  bloody  one  of  the  bayonet — 
our  personal  and  public  security  must  be  main 
tained  against  the  dangers  of  this  property. 

[After  meeting,  in  an  impressive  and  digni 
fied  manner,  the  facetious  remarks  of  another 
member  of  the  House,  who  considered  the  in 
surrection  as  a  " petty  affair"  and  wished,  by 
his  wit,  to  turn  the  whole  scene  into  ridicule, 
J.  McDowell  read  a  number  of  extracts  from 
letters,  written  by  and  to  the  most  distin 
guished  characters  in  the  State,  respecting  the 
dismay  and  terror  whi^h  almost  universally 
pervaded  the  minds  of  the  citizens  in  every 
part  of  the  State.  He  then  proceeded:] 

Now,  sir,  I  ask  you — I  ask  gentlemen — in 
conscience  to  say,  was  this  a  "petty  affair?" 
I  ask  you  whether  that  was  a  petty  affair  which 
startled  the  feelings  of  your  whole  population ; 


which  threw  a  portion  of  it  into  alarm — a  por 
tion  of  it  into  panic;  which  wrung  out  from 
au  affrighted  people  the  thrilling  cry,  day  after 
day  conveyed  to  your  Executive,  "We  are  in 
peril  of  our  lives,  send  us  arms  for  defence." 
Was  that  a  "  petty  affair,''  which  drove  families 
from  their  homes,  which  assembled  women 
and  children  in  crowds,  and  without  shelter, 
at  places  of  common  refuge,  in  every  condition 
of  weakness  and  infirmity,  under  every  suffer 
ing  which  want  and  pain  and  terror  could  in 
flict,  yet  willing  to  endure  all — willing  to  meet 
death  from  famine,  death  from  climate,  death 
from  hardships — preferring  anything,  rather, 
to  the  horrors  of  meeting  it  from  a  domestic 
assassin?  Was  that  a  "petty  affair,"  which 
erected  a  peaceful  and  confiding  portion  of  the 
State  into  a  military  camp;  which  outlawed 
from  pity  the  unfortunate  beings  whose  broth 
ers  had  offended;  which  barred  every  door, 
penetrated  every  bosom  with  fear  or  suspicion; 
which  so  banished  every  scene  of  security  from 
every  man's  dwelling,  that,  let  a  hoof  or  a  horn 
but  break  upon  the  silence  of  the  night,  and 
an  aching  throb  would  be  driven  to  the  heart, 
the  husband  would  look  to  his  weapon,  and 
the  mother  would  shudder  and  weep  upon  her 
cradle ! 

Was  it  the  fear  of  Nat  Turner,  and  his  de 
luded  drunken  handful  of  fellows,  which  pro 
duced,  or  could  produce,  such  effects?  Was  it 
this  that  induced  distant  counties,  where  the 
very  name  of  Southampton  was  strange,  to  arm 
and  equip  for  a  struggle?  No,  sir;  it  was  the 
suspicion  eternally  attached  to  the  slave  him 
self — the  suspicion  that  a  Nat  Turner  might 
be  in  every  family;  that  the  same  bloody  deed 
could  be  acted  over  at  any  time,  and  in  any 
place;  that  the  materials  for  it  were  spread 
through  the  land,  and  always  ready  for  a  like 
explosion  Nothing  but  the  force  of  this 
withering  apprehension — nothing  but  the  par 
alyzing  and  deadening  weight  with  which  it 
falls  upon  and  prostrates  the  heart  of  every 
man  who  has  helpless  dependents  to  protect — 
nothing  but  this  could  have  thrown  a  brave 
people  into  consternation,  or  could  have  made 
any  portion  of  this  powerful  Commonwealth, 
for  a  single  instant,  to  have  quailed  and  trem 
bled. 

This  Commonwealth,  in  the  late  war,  stood 
the  shock  of  England's  power,  and  the  skill  of 
England's  veterans,  with  scarce  a  moment  of 
public  disquiet.  Admiral  Cockburn,  with  his 
incendiary  spirit,  and  backed  by  his  incendiary 
myrmidons,  alarmed  not  the  State — struck  no 
fear  into  its  private  families ;  and  had  his  spirit 
been  ten-fold  more  savage  than  it  was,  and  his 
army  an  hundred-fold  stronger,  and  had  he 
plied  every  energy  and  pledged  every  faculty 
of  his  soul  to  the  destruction  of  the  State,  he 
could  not  have  produced  one  moment  of  that 
terror  for  private  security  which  seizes  upon  all 
at  the  cry  of  insurrection.  He  would  have  been 
our  enemy  in  the  field,  would  have  warred  an 
open  combat  with  the  disciplined  and  the  gal 
lant  of  the  land.  But  an  insurgent  enemy  wars 
at  the  fireside,  makes  his  battle-ground  in  the 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


49 


chamber,  and  seeks,  at  the  hour  of  repose,  for  | 
the  life  of  the  slumbering  and  the  helpless.    No 
wonder,  sir,  that  the  gentleman  from  Bruns 
wick,    [Mr,   Gholson,]    with    his    sensibilities  j 
aroused  by  the  acts  and  the  full  energies  of 
such  an  enemy  as  this,  should  have  said  that  | 
*(they  filled  the  mind  with  the  most  appalling  ' 
apprehensions."     *     *.    * 

Why,  from  the  earliest  period  of  our  history 
to  the  massacre  of  Southampton,  was  a  silence, 
deep  and  awful  as  that  of  death,  observed  upon 
this  subject?     Why  was  it  forbidden  iu  legis 
lative  debate  or  to  the  public  press,  and  spoken 
only  in  mysterious  whispers   around  the  do 
mestic  hearth?    Because  a  sense  of  security  re 
quired,  or  was  thought  to  require,  this  course. 
Why,  sir,  is  this  mystery  now  dispelled  ?    Why 
has  the  grave  opened  its  "  ponderous  and  mar 
ble  jaws?  "  Why  is  the  subject  openly  and  freely  I 
discussed,  in  every  place  and  under  every  form?-, 
-Because  a  general  sense  of  insecurity  pervades 
the  land,  and  our  citizens  are  deeply  impressed! 
with  the  belief  .that  something  must  be  done. 
The  numerous  petitions  and  memorials  whi  •!) 
crowd  your  table  furnish  abundant  eviden.-e  ; 
of  this  truth.     They  may  mistake  the. remedy,  j 
but  they  indicate  most  clearly  that  some  action  j 
is  imperiously  required  at  our  hands— that  the  : 
ovil  has  attained  a  magnitude  which  demands  i 
all  the  skill  and  energy  of  prompt  and  able  ! 
legislation.    It  is  contended,  on  the  other  hand,  | 
that  nothing  efficient  can  be  accomplished,  ;vv! 
that  any  proceedings  by  this  Legislature  \viil 
reduce  the  value  of  property,   and  endanger  • 
the  security  of  the  people.     With  respect  to  i 
the  first  consideration,  he  would  say  that  the  j 
price  of  property  can  never  be  injuriously  af-  j 
fected  by  a  system  which  would  operate  on  J 
that  portion  only  of  the  slaves  who  belong  to  j 
masters  desirous  to  liberate  them,  or  to  sell 
them  for  their  own  benefit,  at  a  reduced  price. 
The  effect,  if  any,  upon  the  residue,  must  be  I 
to  enhance  their'  value.     As  to  the  other  aud  | 
more  serious  objection,  he  would  remark' that  ! 
it  constitutes  and  must  forever  constitute,  an  j 
obstacle  to  abolition,  requiring  all  the  wisdom 
and  discretion  of  Legislature  and  people;   but 
the  removal  of  free  blacks,  or  the  purchase  and 
deportation  of  slaves,  can  involve  no  danger. 
If,  indeed,  the  whole  fabric  shall  totter  to  its 
fall,  when   touched   by  the  gentlest  hand,  it 
must  rest  on  a  precarious  foundation.     If  dan-  [ 
ger   lurks   under  just,    benignant   legislation, 
aiming  to  relieve  both  master  and  slave — to 
combine  justice  with  humanity — will  the  pe 
riod  ever  come  when  it  will  be  safe  to  act? 

But,  admitting  the  subject  cannot  be  ap 
proached  without  danger  now:  the  great  ques 
tion  for  us  to  determine  is,  whether,  by  delav, 
it  may  not  become  fearfully  worse/ and  in 
process  of  time  attain  a  magnitude  far  trans 
cending  our  feeble  powers.  We  owe  it  to  our 
children  to  determine  whether  we  or  they  shall 
incur  tlie  hazard  of  attempting  something. 
Gentlemen  say,  let.  things  alone  f  the  evil  will 
correct  itself.  Sir,  we  may  let  things  alone, 
but  they  will  not  let  us  alone.  We  cannot 
correct  the  march  of  time,  nor  stop  the  cur-  , 


rent  of  events.  We  cannot  rhan^e  the  course 
of  nature,  nor  prevent  the  silent  but  sure  ope 
ration  of  causes  now  at  work. 


from  the.  .yccch  of  Philip  A.  Boiling, 
of  Jjueki?iyli<im. 

The  time  will  corne  —  and  it  may  be  sooner 
than  many  are  willing  to  believe  —  when  this 
oppressed  and  degraded  race  cannot  be  held 
as  they  now  are  —  when  a  change  will  be  ef 
fected,  by  means  abhorrent,  Mr.  Speaker,  to 
you,  and  to  the  feelings  of  every  good  man. 

The  wounded  adder  will  recoil,  and  sting 
the  foot  that  tramples  upon  it.  The  day  is 
fast  approaching,  when  those  who  oppose  all 
action  upon  this  subject,  and,  instead  of  aid 
ing  in  devising  some  feasible  plan  for  freeing 
their  country  from  an  acknowledged  curse, 
cry  "  impossible  "  to  every  plan  suggested,  will 
curse  their  perverseness  and  lament  their  folly. 

Those  gentlemen  who  hug  slavery  to  their 
bosoms,  and  "roll  it  as  a  sweet  morsel  under 
their  tongues,"  have  been  very  lavish  in  their 
denunciations  of  all  who  are  for  stirring  one 
inch  on  this  subject. 

There  is,  sir,  a  "still,  small  voice,"  which 
speaks  to  the  heart  of  man  in  a  tone  too  clear 
And  distinct  to  be  disregarded.  It  tells  him 
that  every  system  of  slavery  is  based  upon  in 
justice  and  oppression.  If  gentlemen  dis- 
regard  it  now,  and  lull  their  consciences  to 
sleep,  they  may  be  aroused  to  a  sense  of  their 
danger  when  it  is  too  late  to  repair  their 
errors. 

However  the  employment  of  slave  labor 
might  be  defended,  gentlemen  would  not,  could 
not,  justify  the  traffic  in  human  beings.  High- 
minded  men  should  disdain  to  hold  their  fel 
low-creatures  as  articles  of  traffic,  disregard 
ing  all  the  ties  of  blood  and  affection,  tearing 
asunder  all  those  sympathies  dear  to  men  — 
dividing  husbands  and  wives,  parents  and 
children,  as  they  would  cut  asunder  a  piece 
of  cotton  cloth.  They  have  hearts  and  feel 
ings  like  other  men.  How  many  a  broken 
heart,  how  mr.ny  a  Rachel,  mourns  because 
her  house  is  left  unto  her  desolate!  The  time 
has  come  when  these  feelings  could  not  be 
suppressed  —  the  day  would  come  when  they 
could  not  be  resisted.  Slavery  was,  and  had 
long  been,  offensive  to  the  moral  feelings  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  community.  Their 
lips  had  been  sealed,  but  their  minds  had  been 
unfettered;  many  had  thought,  and  thought 
deeply,  on  the  subject.  This,  sir,  is  a  Chris 
tian  community.  They  read  in  their  Bibles, 
"Do  unto  all  men  as  you  icould  have  t/icm  do 
unto  you;"  and  this  golden  rule  and  slavery 
are  hard  to  reconcile.  Gentlemen  may,  per 
haps,  curl  the  lip  of  scorn  at  such  considera 
tions;  but  such  a  feeling  existed  in  Virginia. 

Extfacts  from   the  speech    of  Mr.  Brodnax^  of 

Dinwiddie. 

That  slavery  in  Virginia  is  an  evil,  and  a 
transcendent  evil,  it  would  be  idle,  and  more 
than  idle,  for  any  human  beinjr  to  doubt  or 
deny.  It  is  a  mildew  which  has  blighted  ill 


50 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


its  course  every  region  it  has  touched,  from 
the  creation  of  the  world.  Illustrations,  from 
the  history  of  other  countries  and  other  times, 
might  be  instructive  and  profitable,  had  we 
the  time  to  review  them;  but  wre  have  evi 
dences  tending  to  the  same  conviction  nearer  at 
hand,  and  accessible  to  daily  observation,  in 
the  short  histories  of  the  different  States  in 
this  great  Confederacy,  which  are  impressive 
in  their  admonitions  and  conclusive  in  their 
character.  That  Virginia — originally  the  first- 
rated  State  in  the  Union — the  one  which,  in 
better  days,  led  the  councils  and  dictated  the 
measures  of  the  Federal  Government,  had  been 
gradually  razeed  to  the  condition  of  a  third-rate 
State,  and  was  destined  soon  to  yield  prece 
dency  to  another,  among  the  youngest  of  her 
daughters;  that  many  of  the  finest  portions, 
originally,  of  her  territory,  nowr  (as  was  so 
glowingly  depicted  the  other  day)  exhibited 
scenes  of  wide-spread  desolation  and  decay; 
that  many  of  her  most  valuable  citizens  are 
removing  to  other  parts  of  the  world — have 
certainly  been  attributed  to  a  variety  of  causes. 
But  who  can  doubt  that  it  is  principally  slavery 
that  is  at  the  bottom  of  all — that  this  is  the 
incubus  which  paralyzes  her  energies  and  re 
tards  her  every  effort  at  advancement?  I  pre 
sume  that  everybody  is  prepared  to  admit  and 
regret  the  existence  of  this  evil,  and  that  some 
thing  should  be  done  to  alleviate  or  extermi 
nate  it,  if  anything  can  be  done,  by  means  less- 
injurious  or  dangerous  than  the  evil  itself. 
But,  sir,  it  is  on  this  point  on  which  so  much 
diversity  of  opinion  exists  among  us.  All 
would  remove  it,  if  they  could.  Some  seem  to 
think  this  immediately  and  directly  attainable, 
while  others  conclude  that  it  is  a  misfortune 
(not  a  crime,  for  we  are  not  responsible  for  its 
introduction  among  us)  which  no  effort  can 
remove  or  reduce,  and  that  we  must  content 
ourselves  to  submit  to  it  forever,  and  avert 
our  eyes  from  the  consequences  which  are 
hereafter  to  follow. 

Believing,  however,  that  there  is  an  entire 
coincidence  of  public  opinion  on  the  prelim 
inary  question  involved,  I  deem  it  useless  to 
enter  into  a  long  abstract  discussion  of  the 
origin  of  slavery,  or  the  evil  effects  which  re 
sult  from  it.  All  will  admit  its  extinction 
desirable,  if  attainable. 

Extracts  from  a  speech  of  Hon.  Chas.  J.  Faulkner, 
now  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
delivered  in  the  Virginia  House  of  Delegates, 
January  20th,  1832. 

Sir,  there  is  one  point  in  which  I  do  most 
sincerely  agree  with  those  who  are  arrayed 
against  me  in  this  discussion.  It  is,  that  the 
proposed  inquiry  is  one  of  great  delicacy  and 
of  transcendent  importance.  I  wrill  go  further, 
and  say  it  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  mo^t  mo 
mentous  subject  of  public  interest  which  has 
ever  occupied  the  deliberations  of  this  body. 
Indeed,  sir,  (if  I  may  be  pardoned  the  extrav 
agance  of  the  expression,)  I  will  say,  notwith 
standing  the  horror  with  which  the  inquiry  is 
regarded  by  some  gentlemen,  it  is  the  ONLY 


subject  which  at  this  time,  and  under  the  pres 
ent  attitude  of  affairs  in  Virginia,  is  worthy  of 
the  serious  gravity  of  legislation.  When  and 
upon  Avhat  previous  occasion  did  a  question 
so  grand,  so  all-pervading  in  its  consequences, 
absorb  the  consideration  of  this  House?  The 
Revolution  which  agitated  this  Commonwealth 
fifty  years  ago,  great  and  important  as  it  was, 
involved  in  its  results  but  a  change  of  our  po 
litical  relations  with  the  mother  country.  This 
measure  (should  it  prove  successful,  and  that 
it  must,  sooner  or  later,  no  individual  in  this 
House  can  reasonably  doubt)  must  involve  in 
its  consequences  a  moral,  physical,  and  politi 
cal  revolution  in  this  State — a  revolution  which 
will  be  beneficially  felt  by  every  great  interest 
in  the  Commonwealth,  and  by  every  slavehold- 
ing  State  upon  this  continent.  Sir,  I  care  not 
what  may  be  the  feelings  of  other  gentlemen. 
but  I  glory  that  it  is  given  to  me  to  participate 
in  this  measure.  I  shall  ever  reckon  it  among 
the  proudest  incidents  of  my  life,  that  I  have 
contributed  my  feeble  aid  to  forward  a  revolu 
tion  so  grand  and  patriotic  in  its  results.  But, 
sir,  at  the  same  time  that  I  do  accord  with 
those  gentlemen  who  have  preceded  me  in  this 
debate,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  question,  in 
the  all-absorbing  magnitude  of  the  topic  under 
consideration,  I  cannot  think,  with  them,  that 
on  that  account  it  is  not  a  FIT  subject  of  in 
quiry.  Its  very  importance  appeals  to  us,  and 
demands  mquiry .  Let  that  inquiry  be  cautious  : 
let  it  be  deliberate;  let  it  be  guarded;  above 
all,  let  it  be  conducted  with  a  sacred  regard 
to  the  rights  of  private  property,  so  far  at  least 
as  those  rights  can,  upon  an  occasion  of  this 
sort,  be  legitimately  recognised.  But,  still,  let 
the  inquiry  go  on.  THE  PEOPLE  demand  it — 
their  safety  requires  it.  Mystery  in  State  af 
fairs  I  have  always  considered  impolitic  and 
unwise.  It  is  unsuitcd  to  the  genius  of  this 
Government,  which  is  based  upon  the  right  of 
the  people  to  a  free  and  full  examination  of 
whatever  concerns  their  interest  and  happi 
ness.  Sir.  they  pay  you  for  your  counsel — 
they  have  a  right  to  it.  If  there  be  danger, 
let  us  know  it,  and  prepare  for  the  worst.  If 
slavery  can  be  eradicated,  in  God's  name  let 
us  get  rid  of  it.  If  it  cannot,  let  that  melan 
choly  fact  be  distinctly  ascertained;  and  let 
those  who  we  have  been  told  are  now  awaiting 
with  painful  solicitude  the  result  of  your  de 
liberation,  pack  up  their  household  goods, 
and  find  among  the  luxuriant  forests. and  prai 
ries  of  the  West  that  security  and  repose  which 
their  native  land  does  not  afford. 

Again,  sir,  I  ask,  what  new  fact  has  occur^- 
red — what  new  light  has  dawned  upon  the 
gentleman  from  Mecklenburg — that  we  should 
be  called  upon  to  retrace  our  course,  and  to 
disappoint  the  hopes  which  our  first  manly 
decision  gave?  Does  not  the  same  evil  exist? 
Is  it  not  increasing?  Does  not  every  day  give 
it  permanency  and  force?  Is  it  not  nsing  like 
a  heavy  and  portentous  cloud  above  the  hori 
zon,  extending  its  deep  and  sable  volumes 
athwart  the  sky,  and  gathering  in  its  impene 
trable  folds  the  active  materials  of  elemental 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


51 


war?  And,  yet,  shall  we  be  requested  to  close 
our  eyes  to  the  danger,  and  without  an  effort — 
without  even  an  inquiry — to  yield  to  the  im 
pulses  of  a  dark  and  withering  despair?  Sir, 
is  this  manly  legislation?  Is  it  correct — is  it 
HONEST — legislation?  Is  it  acting  with  that 
fidelity  to  our  constituents  which  their  sacred 
interest  requires? 

Sir,  if  this  evil,  great  as  it  is,  was  even  sta 
tionary — if  the  worthy  gentleman  from  Meck 
lenburg  and  Brunswick  [Mr.  Gholson]  could 
give  us  any  assurance  that  it  would  not  in 
crease  until  it  reaches  a  point  which  it  is  hor 
rible  to  contemplate — I  might  be  induced  to 
acquiesce  in  the  course  which  their  pathetic 
appeals  suggest.  But,  when  they  know  it  is 
otherwise — when  they  know  that  each  succes 
sive  billow  is  detracting  from  the  small  space 
of  ground  left  between  us  and  the  angry  ocean 
chafing  at  our  feet — how  can  they  advise  us — 
how  can  they  advise  their  own  constituents — 
to  remain  still,  when  the  next  advancing  wave 
may  overwhelm  them  and  us  in  hopeless  ruin 
and  desolation? 

Sir,  if  the  gentleman  from  Mecklenburg  was 
not  satisfied  when  he  submitted  his  resolution, 
he  must  now  be  convinced  that  this  is  one  of 
those  questions  which  no  parliamentary  adroit 
ness  can  smother.  The  spirit  of  free  inquiry 
is  abroad  upon  the  earth ;  and-  Governments 
and  all  the  institutions  connected  with  them 
must  be  sustained,  not  by  any  mystical  and 
superstitious  reverence  for  them,  as  existing  in 
stitutions,  but  as  they  are  ascertained,  after  a 
severe  and  searching  scrutiny,  to  subserve  the 
great  ends  of  POPULAR  weal.  The  same  ques 
tion  which  is  now  convulsing  Europe  to  its 
centre — which  is  purifying  that  most  gifted 
country  from  the  despotism  which  has  for  so 
many  centuries  hung  over  it — is,  in  a  some 
what  modified  shape,  operating  upon  the  pres 
ent  inquiry.  As  with  them,  it  is  asked,  Why 
have  we  so  long  tolerated  the  unequal  and  op 
pressive  institutions  of  our  country?  Why  have 
we  suffered  ourselves  to  be  ground  into  dust, 
that  others  may  be  pampered  in  luxury  and 
ease?  Of  what  use  are  crowns  and  hereditary 
aristocracies?  Do  they  answer  any  great  end 
of  society?  Do  they  conduce  to  the  happiness 
of  the  PEOPLE?  So  with  us  the  inquiry  must 
be,  Is  slavery  a  beneficial  institution?  Is  the 
prosperity  of  a  nation  promoted  by  nourishing 
within  her  bosom  half  a  million  of  bondsmen, 
alien  to  her  in  interest,  hostile  to  her  in  feel 
ing,  and  prepared,  at  any  favorable  moment, 
to  deluge  the  country  in  blood,  and  dance  upon 
the  ruins  of  Public  Liberty?  In  other  words, 
Are  we  better  with  or  without  slaves?  It  must 
come  to  that  point  at  last.  If  slavery  can  be 
sustained  as  an  institution  conducive  to  the 
great  interests  of  society,  it  will  be  tolerated ; 
if  not,  it  must  bow  before  the  majesty  of  that 
power  which  is  supreme.  But,  sir,  vain  and 
idle  is  every  effort  to  strangle  this  inquiry.  As 
well  might  you  attempt  to  chain  the  ocean,  or 
stay  the  avenging  thunderbolts  of  Heaven,  as 
to  drive  the  people  from  any  inquiry  which 
may  result  in  their  better  condition.  This  is 


too  deep,  too  engrossing  a  subject  of  consid 
eration.  It  addresses  itself  too  strongly  to  our 
interests,  to  our  passions,  and  to  our  feelings. 
There  is  not  a  county,  not  a  town,  uot  a  news 
paper,  not  a  fireside,  in  the  State,  where  the 
subject  is  not  fully  and  fearlessly  canvassed ; 
and  shall  we,  the  constitutional  inquest  of  the 
Commonwealth,  sworn  to  make  a  true  inquiry 
into  all  the  grievances  of  the  people,  and  to 
the  best  of  our  abilities  apply  the  remedy, 
shall  we  alone  be  found  to  shrink  from  this 
inquiry?  And  here  permit  me  to  advert  to  a 
remark  which  fell  (I  am  sure  inadvertently) 
from  the  gentleman  from  Brunswick.  Be 
cause,  forsooth,  in  asking  this  inquiry,  we 
have  chosen  to  depart  from  the  folly  of  our 
ancestors,  and  to  discuss  this  question — not 
with  closed  doors;  not  in  low  and  breathless 
whispers;  not  with  all  the  mummery  of  an 
Oriental  Divan — we  have  been  told  that  we 
are  treating  the  subject  " flippantly" — not  as 
was  done  in  the  better  days  of  the  Common 
wealth.  If  flippancy,  sir,  in  the  vocabulary 
of  that  gentleman,  signifies  a  free  and  open 
discussion  of  that  which  concerns  the  people, 
and  which  they  have  a  right  to  know,  I  plead 
guilty  to  this  charge — most  certainly  not  other 
wise. 

Sir,  uniformity  in  political  views,  feelings, 
and  interests,  in  all  the  parts  of  this  widely- 
extended  State,  would,  I  admit,  be  extremely 
desirable.  But  that  uniformity  is  purchased 
at  too  dear  a  rate,  when  the  bold  and  intrepid 
forester  of  the  West  must  yield  to  the  slothful 
and  degraded  African,  and  those  hills  and  val 
leys  which  until  now  have  re-echoed  with  the 
songs  and  industry  of  freemen  shall  have  be 
come  converted  into  desolation  and  barrenness 
by  the  withering  footsteps  of  slavery. 

Sir,  it  is  to  avert  any  such  possible  conse 
quence  to  my  country,  that  I,  one  of  the 
humblest,  but  not  the  least  determined,  of  the 
Western  delegation,  have  raised  my  voice  for 
emancipation.  Sir,  tax  our  lands,  vilify  our 
country,  carry  the  sword  of  extermination 
through  our  now  defenceless  villages;  but 
spare  us,  I  implore  you,  spare  us  the  curse  of 
slavery,  that  bitterest  drop  from  the  chalice 
of  the  destroying  angel ! 

Sir,  we  have  lands,  we  have  houses,  we  have 
property,  and  we  are  willing  to  pledge  them 
all  to  any  extent,  to  aid  you  in  removing  this 
evil.  Yet,  we  will  not  that  you  shall  extend 
to  us  the  same  evils  under  which  you  labor. 
We  will  not  that  you  shall  make  our  fair  do 
main  the  receptacle  of  your  mass  of  political 
filth  and  corruption.  No,  sir;  before  we  can 
submit  to  such  terms,  violent  convulsions 
must  agitate  this  State. 

The  gentleman  from  Brunswick  and  the  gen 
tleman  from  Dinwiddie  hold  their  slaves,  not 
by  any  law  of  nature,  not  by  any  patent  from 
God,  as  the  latter  gentleman  on  yesterday  as 
sumed,  but  solely  by  virtue  of  the  acquiescence 
and  consent  of  the  society  in  which  they  live. 

But,  sir,  it  is  said  that  society  having  con 
ferred  this  property  on  the  slaveholder,  it  can 
not  now  take  it  from  him  without  an  adequate 


52 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


compensation,  by  which  is  meant  full  value. 
I  may  be  singular  in  the  opinion,  but  1  defy 
the  legal  research  of  the  House  to  point  me  to 
a  principle  recognised  by  the  law,  even  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  its  adjudications,  Avhere  the 
community  nays  for  property  which  is  removed 
or  destroyed  because  it  is  a  nuisance,  and  found 
injurious  to  that  society.  There  is,  I  humbly 
apprehend,  no  such  principle.  There  is  no 
obligation  upon  society  to  continue  your  right 
one  moment  after  it  becomes  injurious  to  the 
best  interests  of  society ;  nor  to  compensate 
you  for  the  loss  of  that,  the  deprivation  of 
which  is  demanded  by  the  safety  of  the  State, 
and  in  which  general  benefit  you  participate 
as  members  of  the  community.  Sir,  there  is 
to  my  mind  a  manifest  distinction  between 
condemning  private  property  to  be  applied  to 
some  beneficial  public  purpose,  and  condemn 
ing  or  removing  private  property  which  is  as 
certained  te>  be  a  positive  wrong  to  society. 
It  is  a  distinction  which  pervades  the  whole 
genius  of  the  law ;  and  is  founded  upon  the 
idea,  that  any  man  who  holds  property  injuri 
ous  to  the  peace  of  that  society  of  which  he  is 
a  member,  thereby  violates  the  condition  upon 
the  observance  of  which  his  right  to  the  prop 
erty  is  alone  guarantied.  For  property  of  the 
first  class  condemned,  there  ought  to  be  com 
pensation;  but  for  property  of  the  latter  class, 
none  can  be  demanded  upon  principle,  ncgne 
accorded  as  a  matter  of  right,  although  con 
siderations  of  policy,  considerations  of  human 
ity,  and  a  spirit  of  compromise,  may  dictate 
some  compensation. 

Sir,  does  not  that  plan  of  emancipation  which 
proposes  freedom  at  a  future  period,  and  which 
guaranties  to  the  slaveholder  the  present  enjoy 
ment  and  profit  of  that  most  pernicious  species 
of  property,  contain  within  itself  a  principle 
of  compensation — a  fair  and  just  proposition 
of  compromise?  I  think  it  does,  and  I  exhibit 
my  views  thus:  It  is  conceded  that,  at  this 
precise  moment  of  our  legislation,  slaves  are 
injurious  to  the  interests  and  threaten  the  sub 
version  and  ruin  of  this  Commonwealth.  Their 
present  number,  their  increasing  number,  all 
admonisli  us  of  this.  In  different  terms,  and 
in  more  measured  language,  the  same  fact  has 
been  conceded  by  all  who  have  yet  addressed 
this  House.  "Something  must  be  done,"  em 
phatically  exclaimed  the  gentleman  from  Din- 
widdie;  and  I  thought  I  could  perceive  a  re- 
sp6nse  to  that  declaration,  in  the  countenance 
of  a  large  majority  of  this  body.  And  why  must 
something  be  done?  Because  if  not,  says  the 
gentleman  from  Campbell,  [Mr.  Hives,]  the 
throats  of  all  the  white  people  of  Virginia  will 
be  cut.  No,  says  the  gentleman  from  Dinwid- 
die — "The  whites  cannot  be  conquered — the 
throats  of  the  blacks  will  be  cut."  It  is  a  tri 
fling  difference,  to  be  sure,  sir,  and  matters 
not  to  the  argument.  For  the  fact  is  conceded, 
that  one  race  or  the  other  must  be  extermi 
nated. 

Sir,  such  being  the  actual  condition  of  this 
Commonwealth.  I  ask  if  we  would  not  be  justi 
fied  now,  supposing  all  considerations  of  policy 


and  humanity  concurred,  without  even  a  mo 
ment's  delay j  in  staving  oil'  this  appalling  and 
overwhelming  calamity?  Sir,  if  this  immense 
negro  population  were  now  in  arms,  gathering 
into  black  and  formidable  masses  of  attack, 
would  that  man  be  listened  to,  who  spoke 
about  property,  who  prayed  you  not  to  direct 
your  artillery  to  such  or  such  a  point,  for  you 
would  destroy  some  of  his  property?  Sir,  to 
the  eye  of  the  statesman,  as  to  the  eye  of  Om 
niscience,  dangers  pressing,  and  dangers  that 
must  necessarily  press,  are  alike  present.  With 
a  single  glance  he  embraces  Virginia  now,  with 
the  elements  of  destruction  reposing  quietly 
upon  her  bosom,  and  Virginia  lighted  from 
one  extremity  to  the  other  with  the  torch  of 
servile  insurrection  and  massacre.  It  is  not 
sufficient  for  him  that  the  match  is  not  yet  ap 
plied.  It  is  enough  that  the  magazine  is  open, 
and  the  match  will  shortly  be  applied. 

Sir,  it  is  true  in  national  as  it  is  in  private 
contracts,  that  loss  and  injury  to  one  party  may 
constitute  as  fair  a  consideration  as  gain  to 
the  other.  Does  the  slaveholder,  while  he  is 
enjoying  his  slaves,  reflect  upon  the  deep  in 
jury  and  incalculable  loss  which  the  possession 
of  that  property  inflicts  upon  the  true  interests 
of  the  country?  And  does  he  not  perceive  that 
society,  in  tolerating  that  evil,  say  for  thirty 
years  longer,  for  hid-  benefit,  is,  in  the  shape  of 
injury  to  herself  and  benefit  to  him,  giving 
him  a  full  and  adequate  compensation?  It  is 
the  only  compensation  which,  s-o  help  me  God ! 
as  a  slaveholder,  I  will  ever  accept  from  the 
Commonwealth  of  Virginia.  It  is  the  only 
compensation  which,  as  a  lawgiver,  I  will  ever 
dispense  to  others. 

Sir,  it  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  true  and  proper 
ground  of  compromise  between  the  slavehold- 
ing  and  anti-slaveholding  interests  of  this  Com 
monwealth;  and  by  anti-slaveholding  interest 
here,  I  mean  to  comprehend  every  interest,  ex 
cept  that  mere  pecuniary  interest  which  the 
master  has  in  the  property  of  his  slave.  Sla 
very,  it  is  admitted,  is  an  evil — it  is  an  insti 
tution  which  presses  heavily  against  the  best 
interests  of  the  State.  It  banishes  free  white 
labor,  it  exterminates  the  mechanic,  the  artisan, 
the  manufacturer.  It  deprives  them  of  occu 
pation.  It  deprives  them  of  bread.  It  converts 
the  energy  of  a  community  into  indolence,  its 
power  into  imbecility,  its  efficiency  into  weak 
ness.  Sir,  being1  thus  injurious,  have  we  not 
aright  to  demand  its  extermination?  Shall 
society  suffer,  that  the  slaveholder  may  con 
tinue  to  gather  his  crop  of  human  flesh  ?  What 
is  his  mere  pecuniary  claim,  compared  with 
the  great  interests  of  the  common  weal?  Must 
the  country  languish,  droop,  die,  that  the  slave 
holder  may  flourish?  Shall  all  interests  be 
subservient  to  one — all  rights  subordinate  to 
those  of  the  slaveholder?  Has  not  the  me 
chanic,  have  not  the  middle  classes  their 
rights — rights  incompatible  with  the  existence 
of  slavery? 

Sir,  so  great  and  overshadowing  are  the 
evils  of  slavery — so  sensibly  are  they  felt  by 
those  who  have  traced  the  causes  of  our  na- 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


53 


tional  decline — so  perceptible  is  the  poisonous 
operation  of  its  principles  in  the  varied  and 
diversified  interests  of  this  Commonwealth, 
that  all,  whose  minds  are  not  warped  by  pre 
judice  or  interest,  must  admit  that  the  disease 
has  now  assumed  that  mortal  tendency,  as  to 
justify  the  application  of  any  remedy  which, 
under  the  great  law  of  State  necessity,  we 
might  consider  advisable. 

Sir,  I  am  gratified  to  perceive  that  no  gen 
tleman  has  yet  risen  in  this  Hall,  the  avowed 
advocate  of  slavery.  The  day  has  gone  by 
when  such  a  voice  could  be  listened  to  with 
patience,  or  even  with  forbearance.  I  even 
regret,  sir,  that  we  should  find  those  amongst 
us  who  enter  the  lists  of  discussion  as  its 
apologists,  except  alone  upon  the  ground  of 
uncontrollable  necessity.  And  yet,  who  could 
have  listened  to  the  very  eloquent  remarks  of 
the  gentleman  from  Brunswick,  without  being 
forced  to  conclude  that  he  at  least  considered 
slavery,  however  not  be  defended  upon  prin 
ciple,  yet  as  being  divested  of  much  of  its 
enormity,  as  you  approach  it  in  practice? 

Sir,  if  there  be  one  who  concurs  with  that  j 
gentleman  in  the  harmless  character  of  this 
institution,  let  me  request  him  to  compare  the 
condition  of  the  slaveholding  portion  of  this 
Commonwealth — barren,  desolate,  and  seared 
as  it  were  by  the  avenging  hand  of  Heaven — 
with  the  descriptions  which  we  have  of  this 
same  country  from  those  who  first  broke  its 
virgin  soil.  To  what  is  this  change  ascriba- 
ble?  Alone  to  the  withering  and  blasting 
effects  of  slavery.  If  this  does  not  satisfy  him, 
let  me  request  him  to  extend  his  travels  to  the 
Northern  States  of  this  Union,  and  beg  him  to 
contrast  the  happiness  and  contentment  which 
prevail  throughout  that  country,  the  busy  and 
cheerful  sound  of  industry,  the  rapid  and  swell 
ing  growth  of  their  population,  their  means 
and  institutions  of  education,  their  skill  and 
proficiency  in  the  useful  arts,  their  enterprise 
and  public  spirit,  the  monuments  of  their  com 
mercial  and  manufacturing  industry;  and, 
above  all,  their  devoted  attachment  to  the 
Government  from  which  they  derive  their  pro 
tection — with  the  division,  discontent,  indo 
lence,  and  poverty,  of  the  Southern  country. 
To  what,  sir,  is  all  this  ascribable?  To  that 
voice  in  the  organization  of  society,  by  which 
one-half  of  its  inhabitants  are  arrayed  in  in 
terest  and  feeling  against  the  other  half — to 
that  unfortunate  state  of  society  in  which  free 
men  regard  labor  as  disgraceful,  and  slaves 
shrink  from  it  as  a  burden  tyrannically  imposed 
upon  them — "to  that  condition  of  things  in 
which  half  a  million  of  your  population  can 
feel  no  sympathy  with  the  society  in  the  pros 
perity  of  which  they  are  forbidden  to  partici 
pate,  and  no  attachment  to  a  Government 
at  whose  hands  they  receive  nothing  but  in 
justice." 

If  this  should  not  be  sufficient,  and  the  cu 
rious  and  incredulous  inquirer  should  suggest 
that  the  contrast  which  has  been  adverted  to, 
and  which  is  so  manifest,  might  be  traced  to 
a  difference  of  climate,  or  other  causes  distinct 


from  slavery  itself,  permit  me  to  refer  him  to 
the  two  States  of  Kentucky  and  Ohio.  No  differ 
ence  of  soil,  no  diversity  of  climate,  no  diver 
sity  in  the  original  settlement  of  those  two 
States,  can  account  for  the  remarkable  dispro 
portion  in  their  natural  advancement.  Sepa 
rated  by  a  river  alone,  they  seem  to  have  been 
purposely  and  providentially  designed  to  ex 
hibit  in  their  future  histories  the  difference 
which  necessarily  results  from  a  country  free 
from,  and  a  country  afflicted  with,  the  curse 
of  slavery.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the  two 
States  of  Missouri  and  Illinois. 

Sir,  if  still  he  should  hesitate  in  the  appre 
hension  of  this  important  political  truth,  that 
slavery  is  a  curse,  which  no  local  advantages 
can  counterbalance,  let  me  invite  him  back 
again  to  his  native  State,  and  point  to  the 
tragedy  of  Southampton.  There,  sir,  undis 
guised  and  clear  to  the  vision  of  all  men,"  are 
the  evils  of  slavery,  written  in  blood.  There 
may  be  seen  a  practical  commentary  upon  that 
institution,  as  it  actually  exists  among  us.  The 
gentleman  from  Dinwiddie  has  called  it  a  "pet 
ty  affair."  It  does  not  appear  so  to  me.  The 
more  I  reflect  upon  it,  the  more  am  I  convinced 
that  it  is  an  important,  a  most  momentous 
affair.  Sixty-one  white  native  inhabitants  of 
Virginia,  in  a  few  hours,  in  the  face  of  day,  in 
a  county  as  well  protected  as  most  of  the  coun 
ties  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  attacked,  butchered, 
mangled,  in  a  style  of  which  the  records  of 
atrocity  can  scarcely  furnish  a  parallel.  This 
a  petty  affair?  Sir,  it  may  suit  the  modesty 
of  those  whose  valor  and  energy  suppressed 
that  insurrection,  to  underrate  its  importance ; 
but  to  the  statesman,  who  knows  that  like 
causes  will  produce  like  effects,  it  must  appear 
fraught  with  useful  and  important  instruction. 
Let  it  not  be  said  that  these  insurrections 
rarely  occur,  and  that  a  similar  one  may  not 
take  place  for  half  a  century  to  come.  To 
us,  no  more  than  to  the  murdered  citizens  of 
Southampton,  is  it  given  to  know  the  day  and 
the  hour.  It  is  sufficient  that  such  an  evil 
may  occur;  and  that  no  vigilance  of  your  po 
lice  can  prevent  its  recurrence. 

Sir,  the  evils  of  slavery  stand  confessed  be 
fore  us.  The  only  question  with  a  Virginia 
statesman  should  be,  Is  there  any  remedy,  and 
what  shall  that  remedy  be?  The  gentleman 
from  Albemarle  has  exhibited  one  scheme,  the 
gentleman  from  Dinwiddie  has  presented  an 
other.  Other  and  perhaps  less-exceptionable 
projects  will  be  submitted,  as  soon  as  it  is  un 
derstood  that  we  are  disposed  to  apply  some 
remedy.  The  only  question  now  before  us  is, 
Shall  we  be  permitted  to  make  the  inquiry? 
Shall  we  be  allowed  to  prosecute  our  investi 
gations  in  the  select  committee?  Let  us  mani 
fest  the  will — the  means  will  assuredly  follow. 
I  never  could  despair,  sir,  in  a  cause  so  just  as 
this.  I  never  could  despair  of  accomplishing 
that  which  eight  States — although,  it  is  true, 
under  more  favorable  circumstances — have  al 
ready  accomplished.  I  never  could  despair  of 
doing  that  which  the  venerable  fathers  of  our 
Republic  have  told  us  is  not  only  practicable, 


54 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


but  have  admonished  us  must  be  done,  if  we 
mean  to  save  the  Commonwealth  from  ruin. 
With  a  steady  perseverance,  failure  is  impos 
sible.  The  sympathies  and  support  of  the 
world  would  gather  around  us.  The  smiles 
of  Heaven  and  our  honest  feelings  would  sus 
tain  us. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  Speaker,  permit  me  again 
to  repeat,  that  although  I  am  decidedly  in  favor 
of  some  scheme  of  manumission  that  will  ulti 
mately  relieve  my  country  from  the  catastrophe 
which  threatens  it,  let  no  gentleman  suppose, 
from  what  has  fallen  from  me,  that  I  am  in 
favor  of  any  rash,  violent,  or  hasty  legislation. 
I  am  For  action,  but  it  must  be  sober,  circum 
spect,  well-considered  action.  I  am  for  no 
plan  which  is  not  mild,  gradual,  prospective 
in  its  operation.  I  shall  advocate  no  scheme 
that  does  not  respect  the  right  of  property,  so^ 
far  as  it  is  entitled  to  be  respected,  with  a  just 
regard  to  the  safety  and  resources  of  the  State. 
I  would  approach  the  subject  as  one  of  great 
magnitude  and  delicacy,  as  one  whose  varied 
and  momentous  consequences  demand  the 
calmest  and  most  deliberate  investigation. 
But  still,  sir,  I  would  approach  it — aye,  deli 
cate  as  it  may  be,  encompassed  as  it  may  be 
with  difficulties  and  hazards,  I  would  still  ap 
proach  it.  The  people  demand  it.  Their  se 
curity  requires  it.  In  the  language  of  the  wise 
and  prophetic  Jefferson,  "You  must  approach 
it — you  must  bear  it — you  must  adopt  some  plan 
of  emancipation,  or  worse  will  follow" 


I  next  quote  from  the  Nashville  Banner,  then 
the  domestic  organ  of  General  Jackson  :• 
From  the  Nashville  Banner  of  the  30th  of  June, 

1834,    then    edited    by    the    late    Samuel    If. 

Laughlin. 

"EMANCIPATION. — The  agitators  and  fanatics 
of  the  East  have  been  recently  engaged  in 
some  highly  reprehensible  measures.  All  the 
sober  friends  of  gradual  and  prospective  eman 
cipation,  and  who  see  the  alarming  and  horrid 
consequences  of  immediate  or  forcible  aboli 
tion,  have  been  open  in  the  condemnation  of 
their  measures  in  Boston,  New  York,  and  Phil 
adelphia.  Those  wretches  have  set  themselves 
up  as  the  open  enemies  of  the  Colonization 
Society,  and  speak  in  open  derision  of  its  prin 
ciples  and  its  measures.  In  this  State,  we 
have  nothing  to  fear  from  such  men;  they 
dare  not  show  their  faces.  Here,  the  great 
moral  principle  is  at  work,  which,  in  the  end, 
will  inevitably  accomplish  the  great  work  in 
a  lawful  and  constitutional  way.  The  warm 
est  friends  of  the  cause  here  only  wish  to  go  a 
little  in  advance  of  the  present  spirit  of  the 
age.  The  only  weapons  they  pretend  to  em 
ploy  are  religion,  expediency,  reason,  and 
moral  duty.  It  is  in  this  spirit  that  Mr.  Ste- 
phenson's  benevolent  protest,  introduced  in 
the  Convention,  has  been  drawn,  which  in  the 
benignaii''}-  of  its  purposes  is  unanswerable, 
and  in  paint  of  reason  and  argument — for  the 
hand  of  a  man  who  has  matured  his  subject  is 
apparent  in  it— says  everything  that  can  be 


said  in  favor  of  what  it  proposes,  at  this  time. 
These  are  merely  our  opinions ;  but  the  sub 
ject  generally  is  one  upon  which  we  have 
read  and  reflected,  more  perhaps  than  upon 
any  other  not  immediately  connected  with  our 
daily  avocations  in  life.  We  have  become 
thoroughly  convinced,  that  nothing  but  time, 
and  the  future  operation  of  moral  principles, 
carried  out  in  wise  legislation,  founded  upon 
the  principle  of  compensation,  or  some  other 
principle  of  justice,  which  may  become,  here 
after,  acceptable  to  the  owners,  will  ever  ena 
ble  the  work  to  be  done.  Let  restraints,  how 
ever,  upon  voluntary  emancipation  be  as  few 
as  the  safety  of  society  will  permit — upon 
colonization,  none." 

The  "Nashville  Republican,  also  a  Jackson 
paper  at  the  time,  spoke  as  follows,  on  the 
20th  of  February,  1834: 

"It  is  supposed  that  efforts  will  be  made  to 
insert  a  provision  for  the  gradual  abolition  of 
slavery,  and  perhaps  the  colonization  of  our 
colored  population.  Upon  the  propriety  of 
this  step  we  shall  not  at  present  decide.  Much 
would  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the  provis 
ion,  whether  well  adapted  to  our  present  and 
future  condition.  The  Legislature  of  Tennes 
see  has  already  taken  up  the  cause  of  coloni 
zation,  and  made,  perhaps,  as  liberal  a  provis 
ion  for  it  as  our  finances  permitted.  The 
nature  of  things,  the  march  of  public  opinion, 
the  voice  of  religion,  all  have  said  that  Amer 
ican  slavery  must  have  an  end.  What. shall 
be  the  legislative  measures  to  that  effect,  and 
when  they  shall  begin,  are  questions  for  pru 
dence  to  determine." 

The  State  Convention  declined  to  do  any 
thing  at  the  time  towards  emancipation, 
though  the  evils  of  slavery  were  generally  ac 
knowledged.  Mr.  Stephenson,  a  prominent 
politician  of  the  time,  entered  a  protest  against 
this  non-action.  Mr.  Laughlin,  the  editor  of 
the  Banner,  and  a  prominent  friend  of  General 
Jackson,  pronounced  the  protest  "wise  and 
benevolent."  The  following  are  extracts  from 
this  document: 

"One  of  its  (the  Bible's)  excellent  rules  is, 
'As  you  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you, 
do  you  even  so  unto  them.'  Now,  to  apply 
this  golden  rule  to  the  case  of  the  master  and 
slave,  we  have  just  to  place  each  in  the  other's 
stead,  then  ask  the  question  honestly,  'What 
would  I  that  my  servant,  thus  placed  in  power, 
would  do  tome?'  Surely,  (if  I  durst,)  I  would 
say,  'When  I  had  paid  to  you,  with  usury,  a 
full  equivalent  for  all  you  have  expended  in 
procuring  me,  and  providing  for  my  support 
and  comfort,  you  ought  to  be  satisfied ;  this  Is 
all  stern  justice  can  require,  and  humanity 
and  a  regard  for  the  rights  of  man  would  re 
quire  no  more.  Why,  then,  do  you  not  permit 
me  to  go  out  free  to  pursue  happiness  my  own 
way?'  " 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


55 


Again,  I  read  in  this  "benevolent  protest," 
(which,  in  the  benignancy  of  its  purposes,  was 
unanswerable,  according  to  Mr.  Laughlin,)  as 
follows: 

'•'The  undersigned  do  not  admit  that  the 
refusal  or  neglect  of  other  States  to  remove 
un  existing  evil  is  a  justification  for  us.  It  is 
written,  when  the  Jews  desired  a  king,  one  of 
their  reasons  was,  that  they  might  be  like  the 
heathen  natives  around  them;  but  this  then 
was  declared  by  the  words  of  unerring  Thought 
not  to  be  good.  In  the  Bible  we  have  an  ac 
count  of  a  people  once  in  bondage;  and  when 
the  great  God  called  for  their  deliverance,  the 
cry  of  their  oppressors  was,  (as  we  believe,  in 
the  spirit  of  the  report,)  'They  be  idle,  they 
be  idle.'  God  hath  said,  'Let  the  oppressed 
go  free;'  and  he  that  oppresseth  the  poor,  re- 
proacheth  his  Maker. 

"The  report  supposes  it  a  dangerous  experi 
ment;  the  command  is,  nevertheless,  Go  for 
ward,  although  the  Red  Sea,  starvation,  deg 
radation,  with  all  the  train  of  horrors  so 
eloquently  set  forth  in  the  report,  stare  you  in 
the  face.  Is  it  better  to  obey  God,  or  man? 
As  wise  men,  judge  ye." 

Mr.  Laughlin  remarked,  in  reference  to  the 
subject: 

"Here  (in  Tennessee)  the  great  moral  prin 
ciple  is  at  work,  which,  in  the  end,  will  in 
evitably  accomplish  the  great  work  (of  eman 
cipation)  in  a  legal  and  constitutional  way. 
The  warmest  friends  of  the  cause  here  only 
want  to  go  a  little  in  advance  of  the  present 
spirit  of  the  age.  The  only  weapons  they 
pretend  to  employ  are  religion,  expediency, 
reason,  and  moral  duty." 

The  debate  in  the  Virginia  Legislature  in 
1832,  and  in  the  Convention  a  year  or  two  I 
before,  together  with  the  above  extracts,  will  | 
serve  to  illustrate  the  spirit  of  Democracy,  and  | 
of  Whiggery  too,  in  the  palmy  days  of  Jackson 
and  Clay. 


From  Tucker 's  Blackstone. 
ON   THE   STATE    OF    SLAVERY   IN   VIR 
GINIA. 
By  St.  George  Tucker,  Professor  of  Law  in  the 

University  of  William  and  Mary,  and  one  of 

the  Judges  of  the  General  Court  in  Virginia. 

[Extract.! 

NOTE  H. 

In  the  preceding  inquiry  into  the  absolute 
rights  of  the  citizens  of  United  America,  we 
must  not  be  understood  as  if  those  rights  were 
equally  and  universally  the  privilege  of  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States,  or  even  of 
all  those  who  may  challenge  this  land  of  free 
dom  as  their  native  country.  Among  the 
blessings  which  the  Almighty  hath  showered 
down  on  these  States,  there  is  a  large  portion 
of  the  bitterest  draught  that  ever  flowed  from 
the  cup  of  affliction.  Whilst  America  hath 


been  the  land  of  promise  to  Europeans  and 
their  descendants,  it  hath  been  the  vale  of 
death  to  millions  of  the  wretched  sons  of  Af 
rica.  The  genial  light  of  Liberty,  whicli  hath 
here  shone  with  unrivalled  lustre  on  the  for 
mer,  hath  yielded  no  comfort  to  the  latter; 
but  to  them  hath  proved  a  pillar  of  darkness, 
whilst  it  hath  conducted  the  former  to  the 
most  enviable  state  of  human  existence.  Whilst 
we  were  offering  up  vows  at  the  shrine  of 
Liberty  and  sacrificing  hecatombs  upon  her 
altars ;  whilst  we  swore  irreconcilable  hostility 
to  her  enemies,  and  hurled  defiance  in  their 
faces;  whilst  we  adjured  the  God  of  Hosts  to 
witness  our  resolution  to  live  free,  or  die,  and 
imprecated  curses  on  their  heads  who  refused 
to  unite  with  us  in  establishing  the  empire  of 
Freedom,  we  were  imposing  upon  our  fellow- 
men,  who  differ  in  complexion  from  us,  a  sla-  •• 
very  ten  thousand  times  more  cruel  than  the 
utmost  extremity  of  those  grievances  and  op 
pressions  of  which  we  complained.  Such  are 
the  inconsistencies  of  human  nature;  such  the 
blindness  of  those  who  pluck  not  the  beam 
out  of  their  own  eyes,  whilst  they  can  espy  a 
moat  in  the  eyes  of  their  brother;  such  that 
partial  system  of  morality  whicli  confines 
rights  and  injuries  to  particular  complexions; 
such  the  effect  of  that  self-love  which  justifies 
or  condemns,  not  according  to  principle,  but 
to  the  agent.  Had  we  turned  our  eyes  in 
wardly  when  we  supplicated  the  Father  of 
Mercies  to  aid  the  injured  and  oppressed;  when 
we  invoked  the  Author  of  Righteousness  to 
attest  the  purity  of  our  motives  and  the  justice 
of  our  cause;  and  implored  the  God  of  Battles 
to  aid  our  exertions  in  its  defence,  should  we 
not  have  stood  more  self-convicted  than  the 
contrite  publican?  Should  we  not  have  left 
our  gift  upon  the  altar,  that  we  might  first  be 
reconciled  to  our  brethren  whom  we  held  in 
bondage?  Should  we  not  have  loosed  their 
chains  and  broken  their  fetters?  Or,  if  the 
difficulties  and  dangers  of  such  an  experiment 
prohibited  the  attempt  during  the  convulsions 
of  a  revolution,  is  it  not  our  duty  to  embrace 
the  first  moment  of  constitutional  health  and 
vigor  to  effectuate  so  desirable  an  object,  and 
to  remove  from  us  a  stigma  with  which  our 
enemies  will  never  fail  to  upbraid  us,  nor  our 
consciences  to  reproach  us  ? 

This   note  is  very  long,  and   embraces  an 
elaborate  plan  of  emancipation. 


LETTER  FROM  HENRY  CLAY. 

The  following  letter  of  Mr.  Clay  is  copied 
from  a  newspaper  of  1849.  It  was  published 
widely  at  the  time  of  its  appearance: 

NEW  ORLEANS,  February  17,  1849. 

DEAR  SIR:  Prior  tu  my  departure  from  home 
in  December  last,  iu  behalf  of  yourself  and 
other  friends,  you  obtained  from  me  a  promise 
to  make  a  public  exposition  of  my  views  and 
opinions  upon  a  grave  and  important  question 
which,  it  was  then  anticipated,  would  be  much 
debated  and  considered  by  the  people  of  Ken- 


56 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


tucky,  during  this  year,  in  consequence  of  the 
approaching  Convention,  summoned  to  amend 
their  present  Constitution.  I  was  not  entirely 
well  when  I  left  home,  and  owing  to  that 
cadse,  and  my  confinement  several  weeks,  du 
ring  my  sojourn  in  this  city,  from  the  effects 
of  an  accident  which  befel  me,  I  have  been 
delayed  in  the  fulfilment  of  my  promise,  which 
I  now  propose  to  execute. 

The  question  to  which  I  allude  is,  whether 
African  slavery,  as  it  now  exists  in  Kentucky, 
shall  be  left  to  a  perpetual  or  indefinite  con 
tinuance,  or  some  provision  shall  be  made,  in 
the  new  Constitution,  for  its  gradual  and  ulti 
mate  extinction? 

A  few  general  observations  Avill  suffice  my 
present  purpose,  without  entering  on  the  whole 
subject  of  slavery,  under  all  its  bearings  and 
in  every  aspect  of  it.  I  am  aware  that  there 
are  respectable  persons  who  believe  that  sla 
very  is  a  blessing,  that  the  institution  ought 
t«  exist  in  every  well-organized  society,  and 
that  it  is  even  favorable  to  the  preservation  of 
liberty.  Happily,  the  number  who  entertain 
these  extravagant  opinions  is  not  very  great, 
and  the  time  would  be  uselessly  occupied  in 
an  elaborate  refutation  to  them.  I  would, 
however,  remark  that,  if  slavery  be  fraught 
with  these  alleged  benefits,  the  principle  on 
which  it  is  maintained  would  require  that  one 
portion  of  the  white  race  should  be  reduced  to 
bondage,  to  serve  another  portion  of  the  same 
race,  when  black  subjects  of  slavery  could  not 
be  obtained ;  and  that  in  Africa,  where  they 
may  entertain  as  great  a  preference  for  their 
color  as  we  do  for  ours,  they  would  be  justi 
fied  in  reducing  the  white  race  to  slavery,  in 
order  to  secure  the  blessings  which  that  state 
is  said  to  diffuse. 

An  argument,  in  support  of  reducing  tne 
African  race  to  slavery  is  sometimes  derived 
from  their  alloged  intellectual  inferiority  to  the 
white  races ;  but,  if  this  argument  be  founded 
in  fact,  (as  it  may  be,  but  which  I  shall  not 
now  examine,)  it  would  prove  entirely  too 
much.  It  would  prove  that  any  white  nation, 
which  had  made  greater  advances  in  civiliza 
tion,  knowledge,  and  wisdom,  than  another 
white  nation,  would  have  a  right  to  reduce  the 
latter  to  a  state  of  bondage.  Nay,  further :  if 
the  principle  of  subjugation  founded  upon  in 
tellectual  superiority  be  true,  and  be  applica 
ble  to  races  and  to  nations,  what  is  to  prevent 
its  being  applied  to  individuals?  And  then 
the  wisest  man  in  the  world  would  have  a  right 
to  make  slaves  of  all  the  rest  of  mankind. 

If  indeed  we  possess  this  intellectual  superi 
ority,  profoundly  grateful  and  thankful  to  Him 
who  has  bestowed  it,  we  ought  to  fulfil  all  the 
obligations  und  duties  which  it  imposes;  and 
these  would  require  us,  not  to  subjugate  or 
deal  unjustly  by  our  fellow  men  who  arc  less 
blessed  than  we  are,  but  to  instruct,  to  im 
prove,  and  to  enlighten  them. 

A  vast  in.-ijority  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  in  every  section  of  them,  I  believe,  re 
gret  the  introduction  of  slavery  into  the  colo 
nies,  under  the  authority  of  our  British  ances 


tors,  lament  that  a  single  slave  treads  our  soil, 
deplore  the  necessity  of  the  continuance  of 
slavery  in  any  of  the  States,  regard  the  in 
stitution  as  a  great  evil  to  both  races,  and 
would  rejoice  in  the  adoption  of  any  safe,  just, 
and  practicable  plan  for  the  removal  of  all 
slaves  from  among  us.  Hitherto  no  such  sat 
isfactory  plan  has  been  presented.  When,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  formation  of  our  present 
Constitution  of  Kentucky,  in  1799,  the  question 
of  the  gradual  emancipation  of  slavery  in  that 
State  was  agitated,  its  friends  had  to  encoun 
ter  a  great  obstacle,  in  the  fact  that  there  then 
existed  no  established  colony  to  which  they 
could  be  transported.  Now,  by  the  successful 
establishment  of  flourishing  colonies  on  the 
western  coast  of  Africa,  that  difficulty  has  been 
obviated.  And  I  confess  that,  without  in 
dulging  in  any  undue  feelings  of  superstition, 
it  does  seem  to  me  that  it  may  have  been  among 
the  dispensations  of  Providence  to  permit  the 
wrongs,  under  which  Africa  has  suffered,  to 
be  inflicted,  that  her  children  might  be  return 
ed  to  their  original  home,  civilized,  imbued 
with  the  benign  spirit  of  Christianity,  and  pre 
pared  ultimately  to  redeem  that  great  conti 
nent  from  barbarism  and  idolatry. 

Without  undertaking  to  judge  for  any  other 
State,  it  was  my  opinion  in  1799  that  Kentucky 
was  in  a  condition  to  admit  of  the  gradual 
emancipation  of  her  slaves;  and  how  deeply 
do  I  lament  that  a  system  with  that  object  had 
not  been  then  established.  If  it  had  been,  the 
State  would  now  be  nearly  rid  of  all  slaves. 
My  opinion  has  never  changed,  and  I  have  fre 
quently  publicly  expressed  it.  I  should  be 
most  happy,  if  what  was  impracticable  at  that 
epoch  could  now  be  accomplished. 

After  full  and  deliberate  consideration  of  the 
subject,  it  appears  to  me  that  three  principles 
should  regulate  the  establishment  of  a  system 
of  gradual  emancipation.  The  first  is,  that  it 
should  be  slow  in  its  operation,  cautious  and 
gradual,  so  as  to  occasion  no  convulsion,  nor 
any  rash  or  sudden  disturbance  in  the  existing 
habits  of  society.  Second,  that,  as  an  indis 
pensable  condition,  the  emancipated  slaves 
should  be  removed  from  the  State  to  some 
colony.  And,  thirdly,  that  the  expenses  of 
their  transportation  to  such  colony,  including 
an  outfit  for  six  months  after  their  arrival  at 
it,  should  be  defrayed  by  a  fund  to  be  raised 
from  the  labor  of  each  freed  slave. 

Nothing  could  be  more  unwise  than  the 
immediate  liberation  of  all  the  slaves  in  the 
State,  comprehending  both  sexe>  and  all  ages, 
from  that  of  tender  infancy  to  extreme  old  age. 
It  would  lead  to  the  most  frightful  and  fatal 
consequences.  Any  great  change  in  the  con 
dition  of  society  should  be  marked  by  extreme 
care  and  circumspection.  The  introduction 
of  slaves  into  the  colonies  was  an  operation 
of  many  years  duration;  and  the  work  of  their 
removal  from  ,the  United  States  can  only  be 
effected  after  the  lapse  of  a  great  length  of 
time. 

I  think  thatia  period  should.be  fixed  when 
all  born  after  it  should  be  free  at  a  specified 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


57 


age,  all  born  before  it  remaining  slaves  Jbr 
life.  That  period,  I  would  suggest,  should  be  ; 
1855,  or  even  18GO;  for  on  this  and  other  ar 
rangements  of  the  system,  if  adopted,  I  incline  ' 
to  a  liberal  margin,  so  as  to  obviate  as  many  \ 
objections  and  to  unite  as  many  opinions  as  | 
possible.  Whether  the  commencement  of  the  ! 
operation  of  the  system  be  a  little  earlier  or  ' 
Liter,  it  is  not  so  important  as  that  a  day  should  j 
be  permanently  fixed,  from  which  we  could  look  ' 
forward  with  confidence  to  the  final  termina-  j 
lion  of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  Com-  j 
monwealth. 

Whatever  may  be   the  day  fixed,  whether  ! 
1855  or  18GO,  or  any  other  day,  all  born  after  ! 
it  I  suggest  should  be  free  at  the  age  of  twen-  i 
ty-five,  but  be  liable  afterwards  to  be  hired 
out,   under  the  authority  of  the  State,  for  a  | 
term  not  exceeding  three  years,  in  order  to 
raise  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the  expenses  of  ! 
their  transportation  to  the  colony,  and  to  pro 
vide  them  an  outfit  for  six  months  after  their  ; 
arrival  there. 

If  the  descendants  of  those  who  were  them-  I 
selves  to  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  were  \ 
also  to  be  considered  as  slaves  until  they  at-  j 
tained  the  same  age,  and  this  rule  were  con-  : 
tinued  indefinitely  us  to  time,  it  is  manifest  ; 
that  slavery  would  be  perpetuated  instead  of  ; 
being  terminated.     To  guard  against  this  con-  j 
sequence,  provision  might  be  made  that  the  j 
offspring  of  those  who  were  to  be  free  at  twen-  j 
ty-five,  should  be  free  from  their  birth,  but 
upon  the  condition  that  they  should  be  appren 
ticed  until  they  were  twent}r-one,  and  be  also 
afterwards  liable  to  be  hired  out  a  period  not 
exceeding  three  years,  for  the  purpose  of  rais 
ing  funds  to  meet  the  expense  to  the  colony 
and  their  subsistence  for  the  first  six  months. 

The  Pennsylvania  system  of  emancipation 
fixed  the  period  of  twenty-eight  for  the  liber 
ation  of  slaves,  and  provided,  or  her  courts 
have  since  interpreted  the  system  to  mean, 
that  the  issue  of  all  who  were  to  be  free  at  the 
limited  age,  were  from  their  births  free.  The 
Pennsylvania  system  made  no  provision  for 
colonization. 

Until  the  commencement  of  the  system  which 
I  am  endeavoring  to  sketch,  I  think  all  the  legal 
rights  of  the  proprietors  of  slaves,  in  their  full 
est  extent,  ought  to  remain  unimpaired  and 
unrestricted.  Consequently,  they  would  have 
the  right  to  sell,  devise,  or  remove  them  from 
the  State;  and  in  the  latter  case,  without  their 
offspring  being  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  eman 
cipation,  for  which  the  system  provides. 

2d.  The  colonization  of  the  free  blacks,  as 
they  successively  arrive,  from  year  to  year,  at 
the  age  entitling  them  to  freedom,  I  consider 
a  condition  absolutely  indispensable.  Without 
it,  I  should  be  utterly  opposed  to  any  scheme 
of  emancipation.  One  hundred  and  ninety  odd 
thousand  blacks,  composing  about  one-fourth 
of  the  entire  population  of  the  State,  with  their 
descendants,  could  never  live  in  peace,  harmo 
ny,  and  equality,  with  the  residue  of  the  pop 
ulation.  The  color,  passions,  and  prejudices, 
would  forever  prevent  the  two  races  living- 


together  in  a  state  of  cordial  union.  Social, 
moral,  and  political  degradation  would  be  the 
inevitable  lot  of  the  colored  race.  Even  in 
the  free  States,  (I  use  the  terms  free  and  slave 
States  not  in  any  sense  derogatory  from  one 
class,  or  implying  any  superiority  in  the  other, 
but  for  the  sake  of  brevity,)  that  is  their  pres 
ent  condition.  In  some  of  those  free  States, 
the  penal  legislation  against  the  people  of  color 
is  quite  as  severe,  if  not  harsher,  than  it  is  in 
some  of  the  slave  States.  As  nowhere  in  the 
United  States  are  amalgamation  and  equality 
between  the  two  races  possible,  it  is  better 
that  there  should  be  a  separation,  and  that  the 
Alrican  descendants  should  be  returned  to  the 
native  land  of  their  fathers. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  the  plan  I  have 
suggested  proposes  the  annual  transportation 
of  all  born  after  a  specified  day,  upon  their 
arrival  at  the  prescribed  age,  to  the  colony 
\vhich  may  be  selected  for  their  destination : 
and  this  process  of  transportation  is  to  be  con 
tinued,  until  the  separation  of  the  two  races 
is  completed.  If  the  emancipated  slaves  were 
to  remain  in  Kentucky  until  they  attained  the 
age  of  twenty-eight,  it  would  be  about  thirty- 
four  years  before  the  first  annual  transporta 
tion  began,  if  the  system  commenced  in  1855; 
and  about  thirty-nine  years,  if  its  operation 
began  in  I860. 

What  the  number  thus  to  be  annually  trans 
ported  would  be,  cannot  be  precisely  ascer 
tained.  I  observe  it  stated  by  the  auditor, 
that  the  increase  of  slaves  in  Kentucky  last 
year  was  between  three  and  four  thousand. 
But,  as  that  statement  was  made  upon  a  com 
parison  of  the  aggregate  number  of  all  the 
slaves  in  tile  State,  without  regard  to  births, 
it  does  not,  I  presume,  exhibit  truly  the  natural 
increase,  which  was  probably  larger.  The 
aggregate  was  affected  by  the  introduction 
and  still  more  by  the  exportation  of  slaves.  I 
suppose  that  there  would  not  be  less,  probably 
more,  than  five  thousand  to  be  transported  the 
first  year  of  the  operation  of  the  system;  but, 
after  it  was  in  progress  some  years,  there  would 
be  be  a  constant  diminution  of  the  number. 

Would  it  be  practicable  annually  to  trans 
port  five  thousand  persons  from  Kentucky? 
There  cannot  be  a  doubt  of  it,  or  even  a  much 
larger  number.  We  receive  from  Europe  an 
nually  emigrants  to  an  amount  exceeding  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  at  a  cost  for  the 
passage  of  about  ten  dollars  per  head,  and 
they  embark  at  European  ports  more  distant 
from  the  United  States  than  the  western  coast 
of  Africa.  It  is  true  that  the  commercial  ma 
rine  employed  between  Europe  and  the  United 
States  affords  facilities,  in  the  transportation 
of  emigrants,  at  that  low  rate,  which  that  en 
gaged  in  the  commerce  between  Liberia  and 
this  country  does  not  now  supplv;  but  that 
commerce  is  increasing;  and  by  the  time  the 
proposed  system,  if  adopted,  would  go  into. 
operation,  it  will  have  greatly  augmented. 

If  there  were  a  certainty  of  the  annual  trans 
portation  of  not  less  than  five  thousand  per 
sons  to  Africa,  it  would  create  a  demand  for 


58 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


transports,  and  the  spirit  of  competition  would, 
I  have  no  doubt,  greatly  diminish"  the  present 
cost  of  the  passage.  That  cost  has  been  stated, 
upon  good  authority,  to  be  at  present  fifty  dol- 
lirs  per  head,  including  the  passage  and  six 
months'  outfit  after  the  arrival  of  the  emigrant 
in  Africa.  Whatever  may  be  the  cost,  and 
whatever  the  number  to  be  transported,  the 
fund  to  be  raised  by  the  hire  of  the  liberated 
slave,  for  a  period  not,  exceeding  three  years, 
will  be  amply  sufficient.  The  annual  hire,  on 
the  average,  may  be  estimated  at  fifty  dollars, 
or  one  hundred  and  fifty  for  the  whole  term. 

Colonization  will  be  attended  with  the  pain 
ful  effect  of  the  separation  of  the  colonists  from 
their  parents,  and  in  some  instances  from  their 
children;  but  from  the  latter  it  will  be  only 
temporary,  as  they  will  follow,  and  be  again 
reunited.  Their  separation  from  their  parents 
will  not  be  until  after  they  have  attained  a 
mature  age,  nor  greater  than  voluntarily  takes 
place  with  emigrants  from  Europe,  who  leave 
their  parents  behind.  It  will  be  far  less  dis 
tressing  than  what  frequently  occurs  in  the 
state  of  slavery,  and  will  be  attended  with  the 
animating  encouragement,  that  the  colonists 
are  transferred  from  a  land  of  bondage  and 
degradation  for  them,  to  a  land  of  liberty  and 
equality. 

And  3d.  The  expense  of  transporting  the 
liberated  slave  to  the  colony,  and  of  maintain 
ing  him  there  for  six  months,  I  think  ought 
to  be  provided  for  by  a  fund  derived  from  his 
labor,  in  the  manner  already  indicated.  He 
is  the  party  most  benefited  by  emancipation. 
It  would  not  be  right  to  subject  the  non-slave 
holder  to  any  part  of  that  expense;  and  the 
slaveholder  will  have  made  sufficient  sacrifices, 
without  being  exclusively  burdened  with  taxes 
to  raise  that  fund.  The  emancipated  slaves 
could  be  hired  out  for  the  time  proposed,  by 
the  sheriff,  or  other  public  agent,  in  each  coun 
ty,  who  should  be  subject  to  strict  account 
ability.  And  it  would  be  requisite  that  there 
should  be  kept  a  register  of  all  births  of  all 
children  of  color,  after  the  day  fixed  for  the 
commencement  of  the  system,  enforced  by  ap 
propriate  sanctions.  It  would  be  a  very  de 
sirable  regulation  of  law,  to  have  the  births, 
.deaths,  and  marriages,  of  the  whole  population 
of  the  State,  registered  and  preserved,  as  is 
done  in  most  well-governed  States. 

Among  other  considerations  which  unite  in 
recommending  to  the  State  of  Kentucky  a  sys 
tem  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  is  that 
arising  out  of  her  exposed  condition,  affording 
great  facilities  to  the  escape  of  her  slaves  into 
the  free  States  and  inio  Canada.  She  does 
not  enjoy  the  security  which  some  of  the  slave 
States  have,  by  being  covered  in  depth  by  two 
or  three  slave  States  intervening  between  them 
and  free  States.  Shfe  has  a  greater  length  of 
border  on  free  States  than  any  other  slave 
State  in  the  Union.  That  border  is  the  Ohio 
river,  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Big- 
Sandy  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  a  distant 
of  near  six  hundred  miles,  separating  her  from 


tha^already  powerful  and  growing  States  of 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois. 

Vast  numbers  of  slaves  have  fled  from  most 
of  the  counties  in  Kentuek}-,  from  the  mouth 
of  Big  Sandy  to  the  mouth  of  the  Miami,  and 
the  evil  has  increased  and  is  increasing.  At 
tempts  to  recover  the  fugitives  lead  to  the 
most  painful  and  irritating  collisions.  Hith 
erto,  countenance  and  assistance  to  the  fugi- 
tivea  nave  been  chiefly  afforded  by  persons  in 
the  State  of  Ohio;  but  it  is  to  be  apprehended, 
from  the  progressive  opposition  to  slavery, 
that,  in  process  of  time,  similar  facilities  to 
the  escape  of  slaves  will  be  found  in  the  States 
of  Indiana  and  Illinois.  By  means  of  railroads, 
Canada  can  be  reached  from  Cincinnati  in  a 
little  more  than  twenty-four  hours. 

In  the  event  of  a  civil  war  breaking  out,  or 
in  the  more  direful  event  of  a  dissolution  of 
the  Union,  in  consequence  of  the  existence  of 
slavery,  Kentucky  would  become  the  theatre 
and  bear  the  brunt  of  the  war.  She  would 
doubtless  defend  herself  with  her  known  valor 
and  gallantry ;  but  the  superiority  of  the  num 
bers  by  which  she  would  be  opposed  would 
lay  waste  and  devastate  her  fair  fields.  Her 
sister  slave  States  would  fly  to  her  succor; 
but,  even  if  they  should  be  successful  in  the 
unequal  conflict,  she  never  could  obtain  any 
indemnity  for  the  inevitable  ravages  of  the 
war. 

It  may  be  urged  that  we  ought  not,  by  the 
gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  to  separate  our 
selves  from  the  other  slave  States,  but  con 
tinue  to  share  with  them  in  all  their  future 
fortunes.  The  power  of  each  slave  State, 
within  its  limits,  over  the  institution  of  sla 
very,  is  absolute,  supreme,  and  exclusive — 
exclusive  of.  that  of  Congress  or  that  of  any 
other  State.  The  Government  of  each  slave 
State  is  bound,  by  the  highest  and  most  solemn 
obligations,  to  dispose  of  the  question  of  sla 
very  so  as  best  to  promote  the  peace,  happiness, 
and  prosperity,  of  the  people  of  the  State. 
Kentucky  being  essentially  a  farming  State, 
slave  labor  is  less  profitable. 

If,  in  most  of  the  other  slave  States,  they 
find  that  labor  more  profitable  in  the  culture 
of  the  staple*  of  cotton  and  sugar,  they  may 
perceive  a  reason  in  that  feeling  for  continu 
ing  slavery,  which  it  cannot  be  expected  should 
control  the  judgment  of  Kentucky,  as  to  what 
may  be  fitting  and  proper  for  her  interests. 
If  she  should  abolish  slavery,  it  would  be 
her  duty,  and  I  trust  that  she  would  be  as 
ready  as  she  now  is,  to  defend  the  slave  States 
in  the  enjoyment  of  all  their  lawful  and  con 
stitutional  rights.  Her  power,  political  and 
physical,  would  be  greatly  increased;  for  the 
one  hundred  and  niiuiy  odd  thousand  slaves, 
and  their  descendants,  would  be  gradually  su 
perseded  by  an  equal  number  of  white  inhab 
itants,  who  would  be  estimated  per  capita,  and 
not  by  the  Federal  rule  of  three-fifths  pre 
scribed  for  the  colored  race  in  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States. 

1  have  tiius,  without  reserve,  freely  expressed 
my  opinion  and  presented  my  views.  The  in- 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


59 


foresting  subject  uf  which  I  have  treated  would 
have  admitted  of  much  enlargement,  but  I  have 
desired  to  consult  brevity.  The  plan  which  I 
have  proposed  will  hardly  be  accused  of  being 
too  early  in  its  commencement  or  too  rapid  in 
its  operation.  It  will  be  more  likely  to  meet 
with  contrary  reproaches.  If  adopted,  it  is  to 
begin  thirty-four  or  thirty-nine  years  from  the 
time  of  its  adoption,  as  the  one  period  or  the 
other  shall  be  selected  for  its  commencement. 
How  long  a  time  it  will  take  to  remove  all  the 
colored  race  from  the  State,  by  the  annual 
transportation  of  each  year's  natural  increase, 
cannot  be  exactly  ascertained.  After  the  sys 
tem  had  been  in  operation  some  years,  I  think 
it  probable,  from  the  manifest  blessings  that 
would  flow  from  it,  from  the  diminished  value 
of  slave  labor,  and  from  the  humanity  and 
benevolence  of  private  individuals  prompting 
a  liberation  of  their  slaves  and  their  trans 
portation,  a  general  disposition  would  exist  to 
accelerate  and  complete  the  work  of  coloniza 
tion. 

That  the  system  will  be  attended  with  some 
sacrifices  on  the  part  of  the  slaveholders,  which 
are  to  be  regretted,  need  not  be  denied.  What 
great  and  beneficial  enterprise  was  ever  accom 
plished  without  risk  and  sacrifice?  But  these 
sacrifices  are  distant,  contingent,  and  incon 
siderable.  Assuming  the  year  1860  for  the 
commencement  of  the  system,  all  slaves  born 
prior  to  that  time  would  remain  such  during 
their  lives,  and  the  personal  loss  of  the  slave 
holder  would,  be  only  the  difference  in  value 
of  a  female  slave  whose  offspring,  if  she  had 
any,  born  after  the  first  day  of  January,  1860, 
should  be  free  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  or 
should  be  slaves  for  life. 

In  the  mean  time,  if  the  right  to  remove  or 
sell  the  slaves  out  of  the  State  should  be  exer 
cised,  that  trifling  loss  would  not  be  incurred. 
The  slaveholder,  after  the  commencement  of 
the  system,  would  lose  the  difference  in  value 
between  slaves  for  life  and  slaves  until  the  age 
of  twenty-five.  He  might  also  incur  some  in 
considerable  expense  in  rearing,  from  their 
birth,  the  issue  of  those  who  were  to  be  free 
at  twenty-five,  until  they  were  old  enough  to 
be  apprenticed  out;  but  as  it  is  probable  that 
they  would  be  most  generally  bound  to  him. 
he  would  receive  some  indemnity  for  their 
services  until  they  attained  their  majority. 

Most  of  the  evils,  losses,  and  misfortunes  of 
human  life  have  some  compensation  or  allevi 
ation.  The  slaveholder  is  generally  a  land 
holder,  and  I  am  persuaded  that  he  would  find, 
in  the  augmented  value  of  his  land,  some,  if 
not  full  indemnity  for  losses  arising  to  him  from 
emancipation  and  colonization.  He  would 
also  liberally  share  in  the  general  benefits, 
accruing  to  the  whole  State,  from  the  extinc 
tion  of  slavery.  These  have  been  so  often  and 
so  fully  stated,  that  I  will  not,  nor  is  it  neces 
sary  to  dwell  upon  them  extensively.  They 
may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words.  We  shall 
remove  from  among  us  the  contaminating  in 
fluences  of  a  servile  and  degraded  race,  of 


different  color;  we  shall  enjoy  the  proud  and 
conscious  satisfaction  of  placing  that  race  , 
where  they  can  enjoy  the  great  blessings  of 
liberty,  and  civil,  political,  and  social  equality; 
we  shall  acquire  the  advantage  of  the  diligence, 
the  fidelity,  and  the  constancy,  of  free  labor, 
instead  of  the  carelessness,  the  infidelity,  and 
the  unsteadiness,  of  slave  labor;  we  shall  ele 
vate  the  character  of  white  labor,  and  elevate 
the  social  condition  of  the  white  laborer;  aug 
ment  the  value  of  our  lands,  improve  the  agri 
culture  of  the  State,  attract  capital  from  abroad 
io  all  the  pursuits  of  commerce,  manufacture?, 
and  agriculture;  redress,  as  far  and  as  fast  as 
we  prudently  could,  any  wrongs  which  the 
descendants  of  Africa  have  suffered  at  our 
hands:  and  we  should  demonstrate  the  sin 
cerity  with  which  we  pay  indiscriminate  hom 
age  to  the  great  cause  of  the  liberty  of  the- 
h  u man  race. 

Kentucky  enjoys  high  respect  and  honora 
ble  consideration  throughout  the  Union  and 
throughout  the  civilized  world;  but,  in  my 
humble  opinion,  no  title  which  she  has  to  the 
esteem  and  admiration  of  mankind,  no  deed? 
of  her  former  glory,  would  equal,  in  greatness 
and  grandeur,  that  of  being  the  pioneer  State 
in  removing  from  her  soil  every  trace  of  human 
slavery,  and  in  establishing  the  descendants 
of  Africa  within  her  jurisdiction  in  the  native 
land  of  their  forefathers. 

1  have  thus  executed  the  promise  I  made,  • 
alluded  to  in  the  commencement  of  this  letter ; 
and  I  hope  that  I  have  done  it  calmly,  free 
from  intemperance,  and  so  as  to  wound  the 
sensibilities  of  none.  I  sincerely  hope  that 
the  question  may  be  considered  and  decided. 
without  the  influence  of  party  or  passion.  I 
should  be  most  happy  to  have  the  good  fortune 
of  coinciding  in  opinion  with  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  Kentucky;  but  if  there  be  a  majority 
opposed  to  all  schemes  of  gradual  emancipa 
tion,  however  much  I  may  regret  it,  my  duty 
will  be  to  bow  in  submission  to  their  will. 

If  it  be  perfectly  certain  and  manifest  that 
such  a  majority  exists,  I  should  think  it  better 
not  to  agitate  the  question  at  all,  since  that, 
in  that  case,  it  would  be  useless,  and  might 
exercise  a  pernicious  collateral  influence  upon 
the  fair  consideration  of  other  amendments 
which  may  be  proposed  to  our  Constitution. 
If  there  be  a  majority  of  the  people  of  Ken 
tucky,  at  this  time,  adverse  to  touching  the 
institution  of  slavery,  as  it  now  exists,  we, 
who  had  thought  and  wished  otherwise,  can 
only  indulge  the  hope  that  at  some  future 
time,  under  better  auspices,  and  with  the 
blessing  of  Providence,  the  cause  which  we 
have  so  much  at  heart  may  be  attended  with 
better  success. 

In  any  event,  I  shall  have  the  satisfaction 
of  having  performed  a  duty  to  the  State,  to 
the  subject,  and  to  myself,  by  placing  my  sen 
timents  permanently  upon  record. 

With  great  regard,  I  am  your  friend  and 
obedient  servant.  H.  CLAY. 

Richard  Pindell,  Esq. 


60 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


SPEECH  OF  WILLIAM- PINKNEY, 

Delivered  in  the  Assembly  of  Maryland,  at  their 
session  in  1788,  when  the  report  of  a  com 
mittee  of  the  House,  favorable  to  a  petition  for 
(he  relief  of  the  oppressed  slaves,  icas  under 
cuntidenttion. 

MK.  SPEAKER:  Before  I  proceed  to  deliver 
my  sentiments  on  the  subject  matter  of  the 
report  under  consideration,  I  must  entreat  the 
•neiubers  of  this  House  to  hear  me  with  pa- 
rience,  and  not  to  condemn  what  I  may  happen 
to  advance  in  support  of  the  opinion  I  have 
formed,  until  they  shall  have  heard  me  out. 
1  am  conscious,  sir,  that  upon  this  occasion  I 
have  long-established  principles  to  combat,  and 
deep-rooted  prejudices  to  defeat;  that  I  have 
fears  and  apprehensions  to  silence,  which  the 
nets  of  former  Legislatures  have  sanctioned; 
aiifl  that  (what  is  equivalent  to  a  host  of  difii- 
fiiities)  the  popular  impressions  are  against 
me.  But,  if  I  am  honored  with  the  same  in 
dulgent  attention  which  the  House  has  been 
[(leased  to  afford  me  on  past  subjects  of  delib 
eration,  I  do  not  despair  of  surmounting  all 
these  obstacles,  in  the  common  cause  of  justice, 
humanity,  and  policy.  The  report  appears  to 
me  to  have  two  objects  in  view:  to  annihilate 
the  existing  restraints  on  the  voluntary  eman 
cipation  of  slaves,  and  to  relieve  a  particular 
offspring  from  the  punishment  heretofore  in 
dicted  on  them,  for  the  mere  transgression  of 
'  tfeeir  parents.  To  the  whole  report,  separately 
and  collectively,  my  hearty  assent,  my  cordial 
assistance,  shall  be  given.  It  was  the  policy 
of  this  country,  sir,  from  an  early  period  of 
colonization  down  -to  the  Revolution,  to  en 
courage  an  importation  of  slaves,  for  purposes 
which  (if  conjecture  may  be  iifdulged)  had 
been  far  better  answered  without  their  assist 
ance.  That  this  inhuman  policy  was  a  dis 
grace  to  the  colony,  a  dishonor  to  the  Legis 
lature,  and  a  scandal  to  human  nature,  we 
need  not,  at  this  enlightened  period,  labor  to 
prove.  The  generous  mind,  that  has  adequate 
ideas  of  the  inherent  rights  of  mankind,  and 
knowrs  the  value  of  them,  must  feel  its  indig 
nation  rise  against  the  shameful  traffic  that 
introduces  slavery  into  a  country  which  seems 
to  have  been  designed  by  Providence  as  an 
asylum  for  those  whom  the  arm  of  power  had 
persecuted,  and  not  as  a  nursery  for  wretches 
stripped  of  every  privilege  which  Heaven  in 
tended  for  its  rational  creatures,  and  reduced 
to  a  level  with — nay,  become  themselves — the 
mere  goods  and  chattels  of  their  masters. 

Sir,  by  the  eternal  principles  of  natural  jus 
tice,  no  master  in  the  State  has  a  right  to  hold 
his  slave  in  bondage  for  a  single  hour;  but 
the  law  of  the  land,  which  (however  oppressive 
and  unjust,  however  inconsistent  with  the 
great  groundwork  of  the  late  Revolution  and 
our  present  frame  of  Government)  we  cannot, 
in  prudence  or  from  a  regard  to  individual 
rights,  abolish,  has  authorized  a  slavery  as 
bad  or  perhaps  worse  than  the  most  absolute, 
unconditional  servitude,  that  ever  England 
knew  in  the  early  ages  of  its  empire,  under 


the  tyrannical  policy  of  the  Danes,  the  feudal 
tenures  of  the  Saxons,  or  the  pure  villanage 
of  the  Normans.  But,  Mr.  Speaker,  because  a 
respect  for  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  commu 
nity,  and  the  already-injured  rights  of  indi 
viduals,  forbids  a  compulsory  liberation  of 
these  unfortunate  creatures,  shall  we  unneeessa- 
.'ily  refine  upon  this  gloomy  system  of  bondage, 
and  prevent  the  owner  of  a  slave  from  manu 
mitting  him,  at  the  only  probable  period,  when 
the  warm  feelings  of  benevolence  and  the  gen 
tle  workings  of  commiseration  dispose  him  to 
the  generous  deed?  Sir,  the  natural  character 
of  Maryland  is  sufficiently  sullied  and  dishon 
ored,  by  barely  tolerating  slavery;  but  when 
it  is  found  that  your  laws  give  every  possible 
encouragement  to  its  continuance  to  the  latest 
generations,  and  are  ingenious  to  prevent  even 
its  slow  and  gradual  decline,  how  is  the  die 
of  the  imputation  deepened?  It  may  even  be 
thought  that  our  late  glorious  struggle  for  lib 
erty  did  not  originate  in  principle,  but  took  its 
rise  from  popular  caprice,  the  rage  of  faction, 
or  the  intemperance  of  party.  Let  it  be  re 
membered,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  even  in  the  days 
of  feudal' barbarity,  when  the  minds  of.  men 
were  unexpanded  by  that  liberality  of  senti 
ment  which  springs  from  civilization  and  re 
finement,  such  was  the  antipathy,  in  England, 
against  private  bondage,  that  so  far  from  being 
studious  to  stop  the  progress  of  emancipation, 
the  courts  of  law  (aided  by  legislative  conni 
vance)  were  inventive  to  liberate  by  construc 
tion,  [f,  for  example,  a  man  brought  an  action 
against  his  villain,  it  was  presumed  that  he 
designed  to  manumit  him ;  and,  although  per 
haps  this  presumption  was,  in  ninety-nine  in 
stances  out  of  a  hundred,  contrary  to  the  fact, 
yet,  upon  this  ground  alone  were  bondmen 
adjudged  to  be  free. 

Sir,  I  sincerely  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to 
impart  my  feelings  upon  this  subject  to  those 
who  hear  me;  they  would  then  acknowledge, 
that  while  the  owner  was  protected  in  the 
property  of  his  slave,  he  might,  at  the  same 
time,  be  allowed  to.  relinquish  that  property  to 
the  unhappy  subject,  whenever  he  should  be  so 
inclined.  They  would  then  feel  that  denying 
this  privilege  was  repugnant  to  every  principle 
of  humanity — an  everlasting  stigma  on  our 
Government — an  act  of  unequalled  barbarity, 
without  a  color  of  policy,  or  a  pretext  of  ne 
cessity,  to  justify  it. 

Sir,  let  gentlemen  put  it  home  to  themselves, 
that  after  Providence  has  crowned  our  exer 
tions  in  the  cause  of  general  freedom  with 
success,  and  led  us  on  to  independence  through 
a  myriad  of  dangers,  and  in  defiance  of  obsta 
cles  crowding  thick  upon  each  other,  we  should 
not  so  soon  forget  the  principles  upon  which 
we  fled  to  arms,  and  lose  all  sense  of  that:  in 
terposition  of  Heaven  by  which  alone  we  could 
have  been  saved  from  the  grasp  of  arbitrary 
power.  We  may  talk  of  liberty  in  our  public 
councils,  and  fancy  that  we  feel  reverence  for 
her  dictates.  We  may  declaim,  with  all  the 
vehemence  of  animated  rhetoric  against  op 
pression,  and  flatter  ourselves  that  we  detest 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


61 


the  ugly  monster;  but  so  long  as  we  continue 
to  cherish  the  poisonous  weed  of  partial  sla 
very  among  us,  the  world  will  doubt  our  sin 
cerity.  In  the  name  of  Heaven,  with  what 
face  can  we  call  ourselves  the  friends  of  equal 
freedom  and  the  inherent  rights  of  our  species, 
when  we  wantonly  pass  laws  inimical  to  each ; 
when  we  reject  every  opportunity  of  destroy 
ing,  by  silent,  imperceptible  degrees,  the  horrid 
fabric  of  individual  bondage,  reared  by  the 
mercenary  hands  of  those  from  whom  the  sa 
cred  flame  of  liberty  received  no  devotion? 

Sir,  it  is  pitiable  to  reflect  to  what  wild  in 
consistencies,  to  what  opposite  extremes,  we 
are  hurried  by  the  frailty  of  our  nature.  Long 
have  I  been  convinced  that  no  generous  senti 
ment  of  which  the  human  heart  is  capable,  no 
elevated  passion  of  the  soul  that  dignifies 
mankind,  can  obtain  a  uniform  and  perfect 
dominion;  to-day  we  maybe  aroused  as  one 
man,  by  a  wonderful  and  unaccountable  sym 
pathy  against  the  lawless  invader  of  the  rights 
of  his  fellow-creatures;  to-morrow  we  may  be 
guilty  of  the  same  oppression  which  we  rep 
robated  and  resisted  in  another.  Is  it,  Mr. 
Speaker,  because  the  complexion  of  these  de 
voted  victims  is  not  quite  so  delicate  as  ours; 
is  it  because  their  untutored  minds  (humbled 
and  debased  by  the  hereditary  yoke)  appear 
less  active  and  capacious  than  our  own;  or,  is 
it  because  we  have  been  so  habituated  to  their 
situation  as  to  become  callous  to  the  horrors 
of  it,  that  we  are  determined,  whether  politic 
or  not,  to  keep  them,  till  time  shall  be  no  more, 
on  a  level  with  the  brutes?  For  "nothing," 
says  Montesquieu,  "so  much  assimilates  a  man 
to  a  brute,  as  living  among  freemen,  himself  a 
slave."  Call  not  Maryland  a  land  of  liberty, 
do  not  pretend  that  she  has  chosen  this  coun 
try  as  an  asylum,  that  here  she  has  erected 
her  temple  and  consecrated  her  shrine,  when 
here,  also,  her  unhallowed  enemy  holds  his 
hellish  pandemonium^  and  our  rulers  offer  sacri 
fice  at  his  polluted  altar.  The  lily  and  the 
bramble  may  grow  in  social  proximity,  but 
liberty  and  slavery  delight  in  separation. 

Sir,  let  us  figure  to  ourselves  for  a  moment 
one  of  these  unhappy  victims,  more  informed 
than  the  rest,  pleading  at  the  bar  of  this  House 
the  cause  of  himself  and  his  fellow-sufferers; 
what  would  be  the  language  of  this  orator  of 
nature?  Thus,  my  imagination  tells  me  he 
would  address  us: 

"We  belong,  by  the  policy  of  our  country, 
to  our  masters,  and  submit  to  our  riororous 
destiny;  we  do  not  ask  you  to  divest  them  of 
their  property,  because  we  are  conscious  you 
have  not  the  power;  we  do  not  entreat  yon  to 
compel  an  emancipation  of  us  or  our  posterity, 
because  justice  to  your  fellow-citi/cns  forbids 
it;  we  only  supplicate  you  not  to  arrest  the 
gentle  arm  of  humanity,  when.it  may  be 
stretched  forth  in  our  behalf,  nor  to  wage 
hostilities  against  that  moral  or  religious  con 
viction  which  may  'at  any  time  incline  our 
masters  to  give  freedom  to  us,  or  our  unoffend 
ing  offspring;  not  to  interpose  legislative  ob 
stacles  to  the  course  of  voluntarv  manumis 


sion.  Thus  shall  you  neither  violate  the  rights 
of  your  people*nor  endanger  the  quiet  of  the 
community,  while  you* vindicate  your  public 
councils  from  the  imputation  of  cruelty  and 
the  stigma  of  causeless,  unprovoked  oppres 
sion.  We  have  never,"  would  he  argue,  "re 
belled  against  our  masters ;  we  have  never 
thrown  your  Government  into  a  ferment  by 
struggles  to  regain  the  independence  of  our 
fathers.  We  have  yielded  our  necks  submis 
sive  to  the  yoke,  and  without  a  murmur  ac 
quiesced  in  the  privation  of  our  native  rights. 
We  conjure  you,  then,  in  the  name  of  the  com 
mon  Parent  of  mankind,  reward  us  not  for  this 
long  and  patient  acquiescence  by  shutting  up 
the  main  avenues  to  our  liberation,  by  with 
holding  from  us  the  poor  privilege  of  benefit 
ing  by  the  kind  indulgence,  the  generous  in 
tentions,  of  our  superiors." 

What  could  we  ansAver  to  arguments  like 
these?  Silent  and  peremptory,  we  might  re 
ject  the  application*  but  no  words  could  jus 
tify  the  deed. 

In  vain  should  we  resort  to  apologies,  ground 
ed  on  the  fallacious  suggestions  of  a  cautious 
and  timid  policy.  I  would  as  soon  believe  the 
incoherent  tale  of  a  schoolboy  who  should  tell 
me  he  had  been  frightened  by  a  ghost,  as  that 
the  grant  of  this  permission  ought  in  any  de 
gree  to  alarm  us.  Are  we  apprehensive  that 
these  men  will  become  more  dangerous  by 
becoming  free ?  Are  we  alarmed,  lest,  by  hi.-ing 
admitted  to  the  enjoyment  of  civil  rights,  they 
will  be  inspired  with  a  deadly  enmity  against 
the  rights  of  others?  Strange,  unaccountably 
paradox!  How  much  more  rational  would  it 
be,  to  argue  that  the  natural  enemy  of  the 
privileges  of  freemen  is  he  who  is  robbed  of 
them  himself!  In  him,  the  foul  demon  of  jeal 
ousy  converts  the  sense  of  his  own  debasement 
into  a  rancorous  hatred  for  the  more  auspicious 
fate  of  others;  while  from  him  whom  you  have 
raised  from  the  degrading  situation  of  a  slave, 
whom  you  have  restored  to  that  rank  in  the 
order  of  the  universe  which  the  malignity  of 
his  fortune  prevented  him  from  attainiii</be- 
fore — from  such  a  man  (unless  his  soul  be  ten 
thousand  times  blacker  than  his  complexion) 
you  may  reasonably  hope  for  ail  the  happy 
effects  of  the  warmest  gratitude  and  love. 

Sir,  let  us  not  limit  our  views  to  the  short 
period  of  a  life  in  being;  let  us  extend  them 
along  the  continuous  line  of  endless  genera 
tions  yet  to  come.  How  will  the  millions  that 
now  teem  in  the  womb  of  futurity,  and  whom 
your  present  laws  would  doom  to  the  curse  of 
[;<•;•;>(>; ual  bondage,  feel  the  inspiration  of  grat 
itude  to  those  whose  sacred  love  of  liber! v 
shall  hnve  opened  the  door  to  their  admission 
within  the  pale  of  freedom?  Dishonorable  to 
the  species  is  the  idea,  that  they  would  ever 
prove  injurious  to  our  interests.  *  Released 
from  the  shackles  of  slavery  by  the  justice  of 
Government  and  the  bouaty  of  individuals, 
the  want  of  fidelity  and  aUachment  would  be 
next  to  impossible. 

Sir,  when  we  talk  of  policy,  it  would  be 
well  for  us  to  reflect  whether  pride  is  not  at 


62 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


the  bottom  of  it;  whether  we,  do  not  feel  our 
vanity  and  self-consequence  wounded  at  the 
idea  of  a  dusty  African  participating  equally 
with  ourselves  in  the  rights  of  human  nature, 
and  rising  to  a  level  with  us,  from  the  lowest 
point  of  degradation.  Prejudices  of  this  kind, 
sir,  are  often  so  powerful  as  to  persuade  us 
that  whatever  countervails  them  is  the  ex 
tremity  of  folly,  and  that  the  peculiar  path  of 
wisdom  is  that  which  leads  to  their  gratifica 
tion.  But  it  is  for  us  to  be  superior  to  the 
influence  of  such  ungenerous  motives;  it  is 
for  us  to  reflect,  that  whatever  the  complexion, 
however  ignoble  the  ancestry  or  uncultivated 
the  mind,  one  universal  Father  gave  being  to 
them  and  us,  and  with  that  being  conferred 
the  unalieuable  rights  of  the  species.  But  I 
have  heard  it  argued,-  that  if  you  permit  a 
master  to  manumit  his  slaves  by  his  last  will 
and  testament,  as  soon  as  they  discover  he  has 
done  so,  they  will  destroy  him,  to  prevent  a 
revocation.  Never  was  *a  weaker  defence  at 
tempted,  to  justify  the  severity  of  persecution; 
never  did  a  bigoted  inquisition  condemn  a 
heretic  to  torture  and  to  death,  upon  grounds 
less  adequate  to  justify  the  horrid  sentence. 
Sir,  is  it  not  obvious  that  the  argument  applies 
equally  against  all  devices  whatsoever  for  any 
person's  benefit?  For,  if  an  advantageous  be 
quest  is  made,  even  to  a  white  man,  has  he  not 
the  same  temptation  to  cut  short  the  life  of  his 
benefactor,  to  secure  and  accelerate  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  benefit? 

As  the  universality  of  this  argument  renders 
it  completely  nugatory,  so  is  its  cruelty  palpa 
ble,  by  its  being  more  applicable  to  other  in 
stances  to  which  it  has  never  been  applied  at 
all,  than  to  the  case  under  consideration. — See 
Willistoris  "Eloquence  of  the  United  States,"  vol.  V. 


LAFAYETTE  AND  CUSTIS. 
From  a  work,  in  a  series  of  numbers,   entitled 

"  Conversations  of  Lafayette  while  in  the  United 

States  of  America,  in  1824-' '25,"  by  George  W. 

P.  Custis,  Esq.,  of  Arlington. 

Mr.  Custis  said:  "My  dear  General,  you  will 
go  to  the  meeting  of  the  American  Colonization 
Society  to-night,  in  the  Capitol.  While  you  re 
main  with  us,  we  shall  embrace  every  opportuni 
ty  of  appropriating  you  to  all  good  works.  This 
is  an  affair  of  philanthropy,  and  will  be  pecu 
liarly  interesting,  inasmuch  as  it  will  call  up 
the  recollections  of  a  great  work  of  philan 
thropy,  in  which  you  were  engaged  some  forty 
years  ago. 

"Would  to  God,  that  on  your  return  to  our 
shores  you  could  have  seen  the  land  of  free 
dom  untarnished  by  the  presence  of  a  slave. 
Would  that  you  could  have  seen  this  fair  coun 
try,  this  great  and  rising  empire,  the  abode 
alone  of  freemen. 

Truly  striking  must  the  contrast  have  been 
to  you,  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
sections  of  our  Confederation.  There,  in  the 
land  of  steady  habits,  you  beheld  the  genuine 
practice  of  republicanism,  in  the  morality,  the 
industry,  and  independence,  of  a  people  who 
would  be  the  pride  aud  ornament  of  any  age 


or  country.  There  you  have  beheld  an  un 
kindly  surface  wrested  from  its  natural  rude 
ness,  aud  made  to  smile  with  plenty  by  the 
labor  and  economy  of  a  virtuous  and  hardy 
population,  and  fertilized  by  the  sweat  which 
falls  from  a  freeman's  brow.  You  have  seen 
the  benefits  of  education,  the  beauty  of  moral 
habits,  which  form  the  power  and  character 
of  a  people,  elevated  by  all  which  can'  elevate 
human  nature.  You  have  said:  'Can  this  be 
the  nation  which  I  left  in  the  cradle?  Can 
this  be  the  country  I  left  hardly  emerged  from 
a  wilderness?7  'Yet  such  things  are.'  You 
left  Liberty  pluming  her  youthful  pinions,  just 
ready  to  take  her  early  flight.  You  find  her 
soaring  on  eagle's  wings,  undazzled  by  her 
height,  preparing  to  leave  the  favored  regions 
where  the  work  is  done,  to  skim  the  'cloud 
capt'  summits  of  the  Andes,  and  perch  in  tri 
umph  on  the  banner  of  Bolivar. 

"In  your  tour,  General,  new  and  diversified 
scenes  await  you  at  every  link  of  the  very  long 
chain  of  the  American  Confederation.  You 
have  already  reached  a  more  genial  clime,  a 
region  more  blessed  by  Heaven,  but,  from  the 
error  of  our  fathers,  more  cursed  by  man. 

;'In  the  South,  our  hearths  are  growing 
cold;  our  doors,  which  have  so  oft  flown  open 
at  the  call  of  hospitality,  have  rust  on  their 
hinges ;  our  chimneys,  in  which  the  blaze  did 
once  '  run  roaring  up,'  now  emit  a  feeble  smoke, 
scarce  enough  to  stain  a  mid-day  sky.  Yet 
generous  was  the  day  of  our  greatness;  the 
social  virtues  dwelt  in  our  hearts,  and  under 
our  roofs  the  stranger  always  found  a  home. 
Our  glory  has  passed  away;  the  Ancient  Do 
minion,  the  seat  of  talent,  of  patriotism,  of 
revolutionary  pride  and  reminiscence,  is  falling 
from  her  once  high  degree ;  she  yields  before 
the  powerful  march  of  sister  States,  which 
were  once  to  her  'as  I  to  Hercules.'  'Tis  true 
the  dreams  of  fancy  still  picture  the  southern 
proprietor  as  reclining  on  beds  of  roses,  fanned 
by  the  Honris  of  the  Alahomedan  paradise ;  say 
rather  the  unenviable  couch  of  Guatimozin. 
The  roses  which  bloom  in  slavery's  clime  soon 
'waste  their  sweetness  in  its  desert  air,'  and 
the  paths  which  appear  to  be  strewed  with 
flowers  will  be  found  to  contain  full  many  a 
thorn. 

But  small  is  the  stream  which  divides  the 
Mother  of  the  States  from  her  now  mighty  off 
spring.  For  nearly  two  centuries  had  the 
parent  being,  before  this  'child  of  promise' 
beheld  the  light;  but  behold  the  march  of 
Freedom !  for  where  her  progress  is  unimpeded 
by  the  trammels  of  slavery,  hers  is  a  giant's 
stride.  But  yesterday,  and  where  this  great 
community  now  flourishes  was  a  trackless 
forest;  'tis  now  enlivened  by  the  busy  'hum 
of  men,'  and  civilization  and  the  arts  have 
fixed  a  happy  dwelling  there ;  nay,  more — his 
trionic*  talent  has  illustrated  the  words  of  the 
divine  Shakspeare,  where  late  the  panther 
howled,  and 

'  Savage  beasts  of  prey 
And  men  more  savage  still  ihan  they.' 

*  Cooper  playing  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


63 


The  axe  of  the  woodman  rouses  the  echoes 
Avhich  have  slept  for  ages  in  the  silence  of 
nature.  The  harvest  smiles  in  luxuriance 
where  wild  flowers  grew  of  late,  and  the  hymns 
of  praise,  heard  from  the  temples  of  the  ever- 
living  God,  succeed  to  the  yell  of  the  savage, 
the  signal  of  despair  and  death. 

"  Know  you  of  changes  like  these  in  the  land 
of  the  slave?  No,  my  dear  General,  there, 
'like  a  wounded  snake/  improvement,  pros 
perity,  and  happiness,  '  drag  their  slow  length 
along;'  but  give  to  the  land  liberty,  and  at 
once  she  puts  on  her  seven-league  boots,  and 
rushes  to  glory  and  empire. 

"To  remove  so  foul  a  blot  from  the  Ameri 
can  character — to  restore  a  degraded  popula 
tion  to  the  climate  and  soil  of  their  ancestors — 
to  cause  freemen  to  overspread  and  cultivate 
the  land  now  occupied  by  the  slave,  will  be  to 
honor  and  aggrandize  the  Republic,  and  afford 
a  brilliant  example  to  the  world. 

"With  such  views,  the  American  Coloniza 
tion  Society  steadily  pursues  its  course,"  &c. 

Lafayette's  Reply. 

"With  much  pleasure,  my  dear  sir,"  the 
General  replied,  "will  I  go  to  the  meeting  of 
the  American  Colonization  Society.  We  will 

first  call  on ,  and  then  to  the  Capitol. 

"Since  my  arrival  in  the  United  States,  I 
have,  indeed,  beheld  wonderful  improvements, 
i'ar  beyond  my  most  enthusiastic  expectations. 
The  benign  influence  of  freedom  has  caused 
creations  to  arise,  rather  than  improvements,  in 
this  highly-favored  land.  The  American  por 
tion  of  my  heart,  and  that  is  no  small  portion 
of  it,  I  can  assure  you,  truly  hails  with  delight, 
and  rejoices  in  sympathy  with  all  which  ele 
vates  and  aggrandizes  this  only  free  Govern 
ment  on  earth. 

"  I  am  well  aware  of  the  cloud  of  evil  which 
overhangs  and  shadows  the  South.  Some  of 
my  fondest  recollections  belong  to  that  genial 
region.  It  was  there  I  first  landed,  a  young 
recruit  to  the  army  of  liberty,  accompanied  by 
poor  General  de  Kalb,  the  same  who  fell  gal 
lantly  fighting  for  her  cause  in  the  battle  of 
Camden.  It  was  there  I  received  the  welcome 
of  Americans  to  a  stranger  from  many  friends, 
most  of  whom  now  sleep  in  their  graves.  I 
have  too  often  experienced  the  kind  hearted- 
ness  and  hospitality  of  the  South,  ever  to  forget 
her. 

"Again,  her  noble  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
liberty,  her  severe  and  manifold  sufferings  and 
sacrifices  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the 
untiring  patriotism  of  her  sons,  the  campaign 
of  1T81,  the  brilliant,  heroic,  never-to-be-for 
gotten  campaigns  of  Greene,  form  features  the 
most  sublime  and  interesting  in  the  character 
and  history  of  the  South.  'Tis  true  she  has 
much  to  deplore,  but  she  has  much  too  to  ad 
mire;  she  still  boasts  of  sons  the  most  patri 
otic  and  enlightened,  the  most  generous  and 
hospitable,  and  contains  in  her  soil  a  grave 
the  most  revered. 

"  Of  the  affair  of  Cayenne  I  will  briefly  state : 
That  on  my  return  to  France,  in  1785, 1  formed 


a  plan  for  the  amelioration  of  slavery,  and  the 
gradual  emancipation  of  slaves  in  the  colony 
of  Cayenne.  Most  of  the  property  in  the  colo 
ny  belonged  to  the  crown  of  France,  which 
enabled  me  the  better  to  prosecute  my  plans, 
being  less  liable  to  interruption  from  the  con 
flicting  interests  and  opinions  of  various  pro 
prietors.  The  purchase  money  of  the  estates 
and  slaves  amounted  to  about  thirty  thousand 
dollars,  not  a  very  large  sum  for  my  fortunes 
in  those  days,  but  laid  out  wholly  and  solely 
for  the  purposes  just  mentioned.  Surely  it 
could  not  have  been  desirable  for  me,  in  those 
times  of  affluence  and  interesting  relations  in 
France,  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  seek  adven 
tures  for  profit  in  a  distant  clime.  A  young 
man,  just  returned  from  aiding  in  the  success 
ful  accomplishment  of  American  liberty,  I  felt 
such  enthusiasm  in  her  holy  cause  as  induced 
me  to  wish  to  see  her  blessings  extended  to 
the  whole  human  family,  and  not  even  with 
held  from  that  injured  and  degraded  race  who, 
lowest  in  the  scale  of  human  being,  have,  from 
their  forlorn  and  friendless  situation,  superior 
claims  to  the  aid  and  commiseration  of  philan 
thropy. 

"  Believing  that  the  agents  usually  employed 
in  the  colony  were  not  of  a  sort  to  further 
my  views,  I  engaged  a  Monsieur  B.,  at  Paris,  a 
man  of  firm  yet  amiable  disposition,  and  well 
calculated  for  the  work  in  which  he  was  to  be 
engaged.  Furnished  with  a  perfect  under 
standing  of  my  plans  and  wishes,  B.  sailed  for 
Cayenne.  Upon  his  arrival,  the  first  act  of 
his  administration  was  to  collect  all  the  cart 
whips  and  such  like  instruments  of.  punish 
ment,  used  under  the  former  regime,  and  have 
them  burnt  in  a  general  assemblage  of  the 
slaves.  B.  then  proceeded  to  make  and  declare 
laws,  rules,  and  discipline,  for  the  government 
of  the  estates.  Affairs  went  on  prosperously, 
and  but  for  the  Revolution,  which  convulsed 
France  both  at  home  and  abroad,  the  most 
favorable  results  were  to  be  expected,  and  the 
slaves  duly  prepared  for  the  rational  enjoy 
ment  of  freedom. 

"Poor  B.  died  from  the  effects  of  climate, 
and  the  proscription  of  myself  after  the  10th 
of  August,  followed  by  the  confiscation  of  my 
estates,  put  a  period  to  this  work,  begun  un 
der  auspices  the  most  favorable,  continued 
with  success;  and  a'  happy  accomplishment 
was  alone  denied  by  the  decree  of  the  Conven 
tion,  which  destroyed  the  whole  colonial  sys 
tem,  by  sudden  and  unconditional  emancipa 
tion,  and  its  consequent  horrors,  in  the  colonies 
of  France. 

"But  to  the  proof.  On  the  Lafayette  estates 
the  emancipated  slaves  came  in  a  body  to  the 
agents,  and  declared  that,  if  the  property  still 
belonged  to  the  general,  they  would  reassume 
their  labors  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  him  Avho 
had  caused  them  to  experience  an  ameliorated 
condition  of  bondage,  with  the  certain  pros 
pect  of  gradual  emancipation,  and  the  rational 
enjoyment  of  freedom.'' — See  African  (Coloni 
zation]  Repository,  April,  1825. 


64 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


General  Lafayette  further  says,  in  his  con 
versations  with  Mr.  Custis: 

"I  have  been  so  long  the  friend  of  emanci 
pation,  particularly  as  regards  these  otherwise 
happy  States,  that  I  behold  with  the  sincerest 
pleasure  the  commencement  of  an  institution, 
whose  progress  and  termination  will,  I  trust, 
be  attended  by  the  most  successfuj.  results.  I 
shall  probably  not  live  to  witness  the  vast 
changes  in  the  condition  of  man  which  are 
about  to  take  place  in  the  world;  but  the  era 
is  already  commenced,  its  progress  is  apparent, 
its  end  is  certain.  France  will  ere  long  give 
freedom  to  her  few  colonies.  In  England,  the 
Parliament  leaders,  urged  by  the  people,  will 
urge  the  Government  to  some  acts  preparatory 
to  the  emancipation  of  her  slaveholding  colo 
nies.  Already  she  is  looking  with  much  anx 
iety  towards  her  East  India  possessions,  for 
supplies  of  sugar,  raised  by  free  labor.  England 
is,  in  fact,  rich  enough  to  buy  up  her  slave 
property,  and  the  current  of  public  opinion 
sets  so  decidedly  against  slavery,  in  all  its  forms, 
that  if  the  people  and  Government  unite,  it 
must  soon  cease  to  exist  in  the  English  pos 
sessions.  South  America  is  crushing  the  evil 
at  her  first  entrance  upon  political  regenera 
tion;  she  will  reap  rich  harvests  of  political 
and  individual  prosperity  and  aggrandizement 
i.iy  this  wholesale  measure.  Where,  then,  my 
dear  sir,  will  be  the  last  foothold  of  slavery 
in  the  world?  Is  it  destined  to  be  the  oppro 
brium  of  this  fine  country?  Again:  you  will, 
in  time,  have  an  accession  of  at  least  three 
free  States  in  this  Union — Maryland,  Virginia, 
and  Kentucky. 

uln   these  three   Commonwealths  there  is 
nothing  grown  which  may  not  be  produced  by 
ii>or,  neither  is  the  climate  inimical  to 
the  white  man,  but  the  reverse. 

"In  the  course  of  the  next  half  century,,  the 
changes  which  I  have  foretold  will  probably 
come  to  pass ;  and  if  they  should,  what,  my 
dear  sir,  will  be  the  condition  of  our  friends  in 
the  extreme  South  and  Southwest  of  the  United 
States?  As  slavery  declines  in  the  other 
States,  its  migration  will  tend  directly  to  those 
regions  as  its  last  place  of  refuge.  May  we 
not  hope  that  this  will  be  deemed  a  matter  of 
serious  consideration,  worthy  of  the  labors  of 
philosphers  and  philanthropists,  and  of  all 
who  feel  an  interest  in  the  safety  and  well 
being  of  a  large  portion  of  the  American 
family? 

"The  views  and  labors  of  the  society  are 
directed  to  the  removal  of  free  persons  of  color 
only,  but  there  will  be  no  want  of  emigrants, 
should  that  great  object  be  successfully  ac 
complished,  as  in  the  munificent  instance  of 
Mr.  Minge,  of  Virginia,  who,  for  an  individual 
has  done  an  act  worthy  of  a  community,  and  is 
entitled  to  the  most  unqualified  arid  enthusias 
tic  praise.  No  doubt,  many  proprietors  wil" 
follow  this  generous  and  noble  example,  per 
haps  not  on  so  large  a  scale  ;  but  a  little  from 
many  soon  becomes  a  great  deal.  Again  :  as 
few  proprietors  could  afford  to  part  with  so 


valuable  a  portion  of  their  property  without 
some  equivalent,  they  might  be  disposed  to 
enable  this  property  to  pay  for  itself  on  some 
plan  like  one  I  have  seen  proposed." — See  Af 
rican  (Colonization)  Repository,  November^  1825. 


From 


BISHOP  MEADE. 
the   African    (Colonization]    Repository, 

July,  1825. 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Meade's  address  was  de 
livered  to  a  crowded  audience  in  Winchester, 
Virginia,  on  the  Fourth  of  July.  He  said: 

"But  should  any  ask,  has  the  American 
Colonization  Society  no  greater  object  in  its 
ultimate  view  than  the  improvement  of  the 
condition  of  those  just  described  ?  We  answer, 
yes.  It  has  a  design  and  a,  hope  which  reaches 
forward  to  distant  periods,  and  contemplates 
a  far  more  extensive  benefit — one  which  it  has 
ever  boldly  avowed  arid  gloried  in.  It  hopes, 
by  the  successful  establishment  of  a  colony  of 
these  unfortunate  beings,  to  invite  the  Ameri 
can  nation  to  a  work  of  charity  and  of  justice 
worthy  of  its  great  name ;  it  hopes  soon  to 
show  to  the  pious  and  benevolent  how  and 
where  they  may  accomplish  a  wish,  near  and 
dear  to  many  hearts,  which  is  now  impossible; 
it  hopes  to  point  out  to  our  several  Legisla 
tures,  and  even  to  the  august  council  of  this 
great  nation,  a  way  by  which,  with  safety  ajjd 
idvantage,  they  may  henceforth  encourage  and 
acilitate  that  system  of  emancipation  which 
-hey  have  almost  forbidden.  To  such  honor 
tnd  usefulness  does  the  American  Colonization 
Society  aspire,  and  thus  hopes  greatly  to  les 
sen,  if  not  entirely  remove,  at  some  distant 
day,  one  of  the  most  tremendous  evils  that  ever 
overhung  a  guilty  nation  upon  earth,  for  in 
vain  do  we  look  through  the  annals  of  history 
'or  a  country  in  like  calamity  with  ours. 

"On  this  day,  also,  how  much  is  expended 
.n  celebrating  the  Declaration  of  American 
Independence?  And  will  it  interrupt  the  re 
joicings  of  this  day  to  be  reminded  of  one 
sacred  duty  due  to  suffering  humanity — to 
weep  with  those  that  weep,  as  well  as  rejoice 
with  those  who  rejoice?  Is  there  not  a  danger 
that  we  will  renew  the  crime  of  those  in  an 
cient  days,  who  chanted  to  the  sound  of  the 
viol,  and  drank  wine  out  of  bowls,  but  were 
not  grieved  for  the  affliction  of  Joseph — felt 
not  for  him  who  was  in  bondage?  In  the 
midst  of  our  laughter,  might  it  not  be  well  that 
our  hearts  be  sometimes  a  little  sorrowful  to 
think  how  many  of  our  fellow-creatures  par 
take  not  of  our  joy ;  and  if  some  happy  scheme 
be  devised  and  offered  to  us  for  diffusing  a 
more  general  joy,  should  we  not  gladly  adopt 
it,  and  thereby  perhaps  prevent  our  mirth  from 
ending  in  heaviness? 

"But  Ihere  is  one  consideration  peculiar  to 
this  day,  which  I  must  not  omit  to  notice. 
What  is  the  age  of  that  joy  which  is  again 
renewed  through  the  laud?  What  year  of 
our  Independence  is  this  upon  Avhich  we  are 
entering?  It  is  the  fiftieth — the  first  jubilee 


.faui'/iVA.i-t  .••&  aa , 

THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


65 


of  American  Independence.  That  word  brings 
with  it  some  sacred  reflections,  drawn  froiii  a 
holy  volume,  for  which  I  trust  all  present  feel 
such  a  becoming  reverence  that  it  can  never 
seem  amiss  to  refer  to  it. 

"It  is  there  recorded  that  an  ancient  nation 
which  had  been  delivered  from  oppressive  tyr 
anny  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  by  that  hand 
conducted  to  a  promised  land,  was  directed, 
on  the  fiftieth  year  after  entering  upon  its  in 
heritance,  to  celebrate  a  jubilee — one  remark 
able  circumstance  of  which  celebration  was, 
that  those  who  were  in  bondage  should  be 
come  freemen ;  and  this  they  were  to  do,  re 
membering  that  their  fathers  were  once  bonds 
men  in  Egypt. 

"How  forcibly,  then,  on  this  first  American 
jubilee,  should  we  feel  the  claim  of  a  society 
having  such  views  and  hopes  as  the  one  for 
which  we  plead.  While  it  were  vanity  to 
hope,  and  worse  than  madness  to  attempt,  by 
one  act  or  effect  to  remove  such  an  evil  as  that 
which  presses  upon  our  country,  yet  surely, 
in  gratitude  to  Heaven  for  our  own  unparalleled 
blessings,  we  should  rejoice  to  patronize  any 
measure  which,  under  the  guidance  of  a  pru 
dent  zeal,  may  restore  lost  rights  to  thousands, 
meliorate  the  condition  of  those  whose  free 
dom  is  but  a  name,  and  thus  be  gradually 
diminishing  a  calamity  which  otherwise  must 
increase,  until  it  burst  with  overwhelming 
ruin  on  some  future  and  unhappy  generation. 

"While,  therefore,  with  sorrowing  hearts 
we  are  forced  to  look  upon  large  numbers  of 
these,  our  fellow-beings,  as  doomed,  for  a  long 
period  to  come,  to  remain  under  the  yoke  of 
servitude,  let  us  zealously  attempt  to  lessen 
that  number,  and  lighten  that  yoke  as  much  as 
possible.  Then  may  we,  with  clear  consciences 
and  thankful  hearts,  rejoice  before  Heaven  on 
each  return  of  this  day,  for  the  many  blessings 
poured  out  upon  us.  Thus  shall  we  stand 
acquitted  to  our  children  of  having  entailed 
upon  them,  without  an  effort  at  removal,  one 
of  the  most  deadly  evils  that  ever  afflicted  a 
nation." 


THE  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH  ON  SLA 
VERY. 

"  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  convened  in  Philadelphia,  June,  1818, 
having  taken  into  consideration  the  subject  of 
Slavery,  think  proper  to  make  known  their 
sentiments  upon  it  to  the  churches  and  people 
under  their  care. 

"We  consider  the  voluntary  enslaving  of 
one  part  of  the  human  race  by  another,  as  a 
gross  violation  of  the  most  precious  and  sacred 
rights  of  human  nature ;  ag  utterly  inconsist 
ent  with  the  law  of  God,  which  requires  us  to 
love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves;  and  as  totally 
irreconcilable  with  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  which  enjoin,  that 'all 
things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.'  Slavery 
creates  a  paradox  in  the  moral  system — it  ex 
hibits  rational,  accountable,  and  immortal 


beings,  in  such  circumstances  as  scarcely  to 
leave  them  the  power  of  moral  action.  It  ex 
hibits  them  as  dependent  on  the  will  of  others 
whether  they  shall  receive  religious  instruct!  on; 
whether  they  shall  know  and  worship  the  true 
God;  whether  they  shall  enjoy  the  ordinances 
of  the  Gospel;  whether  they  shall  perform  the 
duties  and  cherish  the  endearments  of  hus 
bands  and  wives,  parents  and  children,  neigh 
bors  and  friends ;  whether  they  shall  preserve 
their  chastity  and  purity,  or  regard  the  dictates 
of  justice  or  humanity.  Such  are  some  of  the 
consequences  of  slavery — consequences  not 
imaginary — but  which  connect  themselves 
with  its  very  existence.  The  evils  to  which 
the  slave  is  always  exposed  often  take  place  in 
fact,  and  in  their  very  worst  degree  and  form ; 
and  where  all  of  them  do  not  take  place,  as 
we  rejoice  to  say  that  in  many  instances, 
through  the  influence  of  the  principles  of  hu 
manity  and  religion  on  the  minds  of  masters, 
they  do  not — still  the  slave  is  deprived  of  his 
natural  right,  degraded  as  a  human  being,  and 
exposed  to  the  danger  of  passing  into  the 
hands  of  a  master  who  may  inflict  upon  him 
all  the  hardships  and  injuries  which  inhuman 
ity  and  avarice  may  suggest. 

"  From  this  view  of  the  consequences  result 
ing  from  the  practice  into  which  Christian 
people  have  most  inconsistently  fallen,  of  en 
slaving  a  portion  of  their  brethren  of  mankind, 
(for  '  God  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,') 
it  is  manifestly  the  duty  of  all  Christians  who 
enjoy  the  light  of  the  present  day,  when  the 
inconsistency  of  slavery,  both  with  the  dictates 
of  humanity  and  religion,  has  been  demon 
strated,  and  is  generally  seen  and  acknowl 
edged,  to  use  their  honest,  earnest,  and  un 
wearied  endeavors  to  correct  the  errors  of 
former  times,  and  as  speedily  as  possible  to 
efface  this  blot  on  our  holy  religion,  and 
to  obtain  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery 
throughout  Christendom,  and,  if  possible, 
throughout  the  world. 

"  We  rejoice  that  the  church  to  which  we  be 
long  commenced  as  early  as  any  other  in  this 
country  the  good  work  of  endeavoring  to  put 
an  end  to  slavery,  and  that  in  the  same  work 
many  of  its  members  have  ever  since  been,  and 
now  are,  among  the  most  active,  vigorous,  and 
efficient  laborers.  We  do,  indeed,  tenderly 
sympathize  with  those* portions  of  our  church 
and  our  country  where  the  evil  of  slavery  has 
been  entailed  upon  them ;  where  a  great  and 
the  most  virtuous  part  of  the  community  abhor 
slavery,  and  wish  its  extermination  as  sin 
cerely  as  any  others ;  but  where  the  number 
of  slaves,  their  ignorance,  and  their  vicious 
habits  generally,  render  an  immediate  and 
universal  emancipation  inconsistent  alike  with 
the  safety  and  happiness  of  the  master  and  the 
slave.  With  those  who  are  thus  circumstanced, 
we  repeat  that  we  tenderly  sympathize.  At 
the  same  time,  we  earnestly  exhort  them  to 
continue,  and,  if  possible,  to  increase  their  ex 
ertions  to  effect  a  total  abolition  of  slavery. 
We  exhort  them  to  suffer  no  greater  delay  to 


66 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


take  place  in  this  most  interesting  concern 
than  a  regard  to  the  public  welfare  truly  and 
mdispensably  demands. 

"As  our  country  has  inflicted  a  most  griev 
ous  injury  on  the  unhappy  Africans,  by  bring 
ing  them  into  slavery,  we  cannot,  indeed,  urge 
that  we  should  add  a  second  injury  to  the  first, 
by  emancipating  them  in  such  a,  manner  as 
that  they  will  be  likely  to  destroy  themselves 
or  others.  But  we  do  think  that  our  country 
ought  to  be  governed  in  this  matter  by  no 
other  consideration  than  an  honest  and  im 
partial  regard  to  the  happiness  of  the  injured 
party,  uninfluenced  by  the  expense  or  incon 
venience  which  such  a  regard  may  involve. 
We  therefore  warn  all  who  belong  to  our  de 
nomination  of  Christians  against  unduly  ex 
tending  this  plea  of  necessity ;  against  making- 
it  a  cover  for  the  love  and  practice  of  slavery, 
or  a  pretence  for  not  using  efforts  that  are 
lawful  and  practicable  to  extinguish  the 
evil. 

"And  we,  at  the  same  time,  exhort  others  to 
forbear  harsh  censures  and  uncharitable  re 
flections  on  their  brethren  who  unhappily  live 
among  slaves  whom  they  cannot  immediately 
set  free,  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  are  really 
using  all  their  influence  find  all  their  endeav 
ors  to  bring  them  into  a  state  of  freedom  as 
soon  as  a  door  for  it  can  be  safely  opened. 

"  Having  thus  expressed  our  views  of  slavery, 
and  of  the  duty  indispensably  incumbent  on 
all  Christians  to  labor  for  its  complete  extinc 
tion,  we  proceed  to  recommend  (and  we  do  it 
with  all  the  earnestness  and  solemnity  which 
this  momentous  subject  demands)  a  particular 
attention  to  the  following  points: 

[Here  follows  a  recommendation  of  the  Col 
onization  Society — an  injunction  of  the  duty 
of  imparting  religious  instruction  to  slaves, 
and  of  punishing  cruelty  to  slaves,  or  sepa 
ration  of  families,  by  suspension  from  the 
Church.] 

"Passed  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States,  and  signed,  by  their  order,  by 
J.  J.  JANEWAY,  Moderator. 

"Philadelphia,  June  2,  1818."    . 


DELAWARE. 

The  Union  Colonization  Society,  Delaware, 
held  its  annual  meeting  at  Wilmington,  on  the 
17th  November  last.  The  influence  of  the 
colored  population  of  our  country  upon  its 
agriculture  is  thus  stated  by  the  Society : 

"It  depreciates  our  soil,  lessens  our  agricul 
tural  revenue,  and,  like  the  lean  kine  of  Egypt, 
eats  up  the  fat  of  the  land.  It  will  hardly  ad 
mit  of  a  question,  but  that  the  Southern  sec 
tion  of  our  country  would,  in  a  few  years,  be 
richer  without  one  slave  than  it  is  now  with 
1,600,000.  Virginia,  witji  63,000  square  miles 
of  territory,  (and  that  well  suited  to  agricul 


ture,)  and  450,000  slaves,  is  valued  less  than 
the  very  land  of  New  York  State,  a  tract  of 
about  two-thirds  its  size." — See  African  (Colo 
nization]  Repository,  January,  1826. 


NORFOLK. 

The  fifth  annual  meeting  of  the  Norfolk 
(Va.)  Auxiliary  Society,  took  place  on  the  2d 
January,  1826.  We  copy  the  following  from 
the  Society's  Report: 

"At  the  same  time,  also,  we  shall  have  made 
some  reparation,  according  to  our  ability,  to 
an  injured  quarter  of  the  globe,  for  the  wrongs 
that  we  have  done  her,  by  giving  her  in  our 
colony  another  fortress  against  the  piracy  of 
the  slave  trade,  and  a  seminary  for  the  instruc 
tion  of  her  children  in  all  the  happy  arts  of 
our  own  civilized  country.  In  the  mean  time, 
too,  whilst  we  are  doing  this,  we  shall  have 
indirectly  but  powerfully  aided  the  cause  of 
emancipation,  by  establishing  a  city  of  refuge, 
a  safe  asylum,  to  which  the  pious  and  humane 
may  send  out  their  liberated  slaves,  without 
injury  to  them  or  to  the  community,  but  with 
the  greatest  advantage  to  both.  We  shall  also 
have  awakened  the  minds  of  our  people  to  a 
deep  consideration  of  their  duty  and  interest 
in  putting  away  the  whole  of  this  black  and 
menacing  evil,  gradually,  safely,  and  most 
happily,  from  our  land.  And  we  shall  have 
pointed  out  to  those  who  wield  the  power  of 
the  people  in  our  legislative  halls,  in  what 
manner  they  might  use  that  power  for  the 
purest  and  noblest  ends,  and  to  promote  all 
the  best  and  truest  interests  of  our  State  and 
country. 

"The  establishment  of  the  new  republics  of 
South  America,  and  the  consequent  emanci 
pation  of  large  classes  of  their  population  here 
tofore  held  in  bondage,  must  naturally  re 
double  all  our  efforts  to  imitate  their  example, 
in  its  spirit  and  with  those  modifications  only 
which  our  different  circumstances  should  prop 
erly  suggest.  The  exertions  too,  which  British 
politicians  and  philanthropists  are  making  to 
raise  the  condition  of  their  slaves  in  the  West 
Indies,  from  absolute  bondage  to  a  partial  par 
ticipation  in  the  rights  of  freemen,  will  increase 
the  motives  and  the  facilities  to  the  execution 
of  our  own  better  scheme  of  removing  our  bond 
men  to  a  happy  distance  from  our  shores.  The 
diffusion  of  the  principle,  too,  that  political 
economists  are  everywhere  urging  with  so  much 
force,  that  free  labor  is  incontestably  cheaper 
and  more  productive  than  slave,  will  invigorate 
all  our  appeals  to  benevolence,  by  adding  the 
weight  of  interest  to  that  of  duty.  And  over 
and  above  all,  we  are  not  afraid  nor  ashamed  to 
avow,  in  the  faces  of  all  the  infidels  in  the  world, 
that  we  build  our  hope  of  ultimate  success  on  our 
faith  in  that  sure  word  of  prophecy  which,  as  it 
authorizes  us  to  expect  thut  there  shall  be  a 
day  of  universal  holiness  in  the  earth,  warrants 
us  also  to  believe  that  God,  who  sitteth  in  the 
heavens,  and  shapes  and  sways  the  purposes 


THE   SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


67 


and  acts  of  men  to  his  own  ends,  (for  he  turn- 
eth  the  hearts  of  the  people  as  the  rivers  of  water 
are  turned,)  will  himself  find  out  and  secure 
the  ways  and  means  to  extinguish  an  evil, 
whose  continued  existence  would  be  absolute 
ly  incompatible  with  all  our  notions  of  an  era 
so  happy  and  so  divine.  Wherefore,  members 
and  friends  of  the  society,  be  ye  steadfast,  im 
movable,  always  abounding  in  this  work  of  the 
Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor 
cannot  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord." — See  African 
(Colonization)  Repository,  January,  1826. 


HON.  FRANCIS  S.  KEY. 
[Mr.  Key  was  District  Attorney  for  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  under  General  Jackson,  a 
native  of  Maryland,  and  author  of  "The  Star- 
Spangled  Banner."]  Extract  from  his  address 
delivered  at  Philadelphia,  to  the  Colonization 
Society,  November  25th,  1828.  See  African 
(Colonization)  Repository,  December,  1828. 

"It  remains  only  to  show  that  the  execution 
of  the  Society's  plan  will  be  followed  by  the 
consequence  predicted,  the  promotion  of  eman 
cipation.  It  is  reasonable  to  expect  such  a 
consequence.  Can  any  one  believe  that  the 
States  in  which  slavery  exists  desire  its  per 
petuation;  that  they  will  not  make  an  effort 
to  relieve  themselves  from  this  evil,  if  a  prac 
ticable  "&nd  safe  plan  be  presented  to  them? 
Slaveholders  are  like  other  men,  governed  by 
the  same  feelings,  influenced  by  the  same  mo 
tives.  Can  it  be  supposed  that  they  are  in 
sensible  to  their  own  interests?  They  see  the 
injurious  effects  of  the  slave  system;  that  the 
value  of  their  land  is  lessened  by  it,  the  pro 
gress  of  improvements  retarded,  the  increase 
of  population  checked.  If  the  people  of  Mary 
land  and  Virginia,  for  example,  have  common 
sense  and  observation,  they  must  see,  they 
have  seen,  and  do  see,  that  their  neighbors  of 
Pennsylvania  increase  in  wealth  and  popula 
tion  in  a  ratio  far  greater  than  theirs.  At  the 
first  census,  the  number  of  inhabitants  in 
Pennsylvania  was  little  more  than  one-half 
that  of  Virginia;  at  the  last,  it  was  nearly 
equal.  The  increased  value  of  lands  and 
houses  in  Pennsylvania,  in  fifteen  years,  from 
1799  to  1814,  exceeded  that  of  Virginia,  though 
her  territory  is  much  larger,  upwards  of 
$90,000,000.  The  lands  in  the  latter  State 
are  as  fertile  as  those  of  the  former.  No  other 
cause  can  be  assigned  for  this  difference,  than 
the  existence  in  the  one  of  an  evil  which 
has  been  removed  from  the  other.  There  is, 
moreover,  in  each  of  the  slaveholding  States 
just  mentioned,  nearer  and  plainer  proof  of 
the  bad  effects  of  this  evil  in  their  institutions. 
There  are  counties  wherein  the  slave  popula 
tion  nearly  equals  the  white,  and  others  where 
the  number  of  slaves  is  inconsiderable.  In 
one  county  of  Maryland,  having  but  few  slaves, 
the  increase  of  population  between  1810  and 
L820  amounted  to  many  thousands ;  while  in 


another,  where  the  numbers  of  slaves  and  of 
whites  are  nearly  the  same,  there  was  a  decrease 
of  almost  a  fifth  of  its  whole  population.  Lands 
of  similar  quality  bear  very  different  prices  in 
the  two  districts ;  for  farmers  will  not  migrate 
to  a  slave  country;  and  there  is  the  same  dif 
ference  in  many  other  particulars  of  this  na 
ture. 

"Nor  is  it  only  in  reference  to  the  value  of 
property  and  improvement  of  their  outward 
circumstances  that  the  inconvenience  of  the 
present  condition  of  things  is  felt  and  acknowl 
edged.  In  respect  of  moral  advantages,  they 
have  impediments  peculiar  to  this  unfortunate 
state  of  society.  They  cannot,  with  the  same 
facility  and  benefit,  have  churches,  schools,  or 
other  institutions  for  religious  and  intellectual 
improvement,  such  as  are  found  in  every  neigh 
borhood  amidst  the  denser  population  of  the 
Northern  States.  Not  only  have  they  no  ac 
cessions  to  their  numbers  by  emigration  from 
foreign  countries  or  other  States,  but,  where 
the  slaves  are  numerous,  the  young  people  of 
the  laboring  classes,  who  grow  up  among 
them,  are  unwilling  to  work  in  the  company 
of  blacks,  and  feel  their  own  station  in  society 
to  be  degraded.  For  this  reason,  such  of  them 
as  are  industrious  and  enterprising  remove  to 
the  new  settlements  of  free  States,  while  the 
idle  and  dissolute  remain.  So  that  such  dis 
tricts  lose  their  best  and  retain  their  worst 
population." — See  African  (Colonization)  Re 
pository,  December,  1828. 


PRESIDENT  YOUNG,  OF  TRANSYLVANIA 
COLLEGE,  KY.,  ON  SLAVERY. 

The  specific  purpose  of  the  writer  was  to 
make  some  remarks  on  the  "declaration  and 
resolutions  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  in  refer 
ence  to  slavery."  The  most  important  prin 
ciples  of  that  paper  are,  he  thinks — 

"1.  The  system  of  slavery  (or  involuntary 
and  hereditary  bondage)  is  sinful. 

"2.  It  is  not  sinful  in  an  individual  to  re 
tain  his  legal  authority  over  those  of  his  ser 
vants  whom  he  sincerely  and  conscientiously 
believes  to  be  unfit  for  freedom,  while  he  is, 
by  the  application  of  proper  and  vigorous 
means,  preparing  them  for  the  right  and  bene 
ficial  enjoyment  of  liberty. 

"3.  It  is  sinful  in  any  individual  to  delay 
the  commencement  of  these  benevolent  and 
conscientious  labors,  or  to  prosecute  them  de 
ceitfully  when  they  are  commenced — thus  re 
tarding  unnecessarily  the  day  of  complete 
emancipation." 

After  some  remarks  on  transactions  con 
nected  with  the  preparation  of  the  document 
referred  to,  the  reverend  and  learned  gentle 
man  says: 

"Any  person,  who  has  ever  attempted  to 
draft  a  paper  on  so  delicate  and  difficult  a 
subject,  knows  how  small  is  the  probability  of 


68 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


so  framing  the  expressions  as  to  guard  against 
all  erroneous  inferences.  Perhaps  there  might 
be  advantageously  substituted  for  the  disputed 
phraseology,  some  modification  of  language 
more  happy  in  expressing  the  idea  that  the  mas 
ter  might,  for  a  limited  time,  and  simply  with 
a  view  to  the  good  of  the  bondman,  retain  his 
legal  power  without  a  violation  of  that  holy 
law  which  requires  us  to  do  unto  another  that 
which  we  would  that  he  should  do  unto  us. 
There  is  no  repugnance  between  this  position 
and  the  position  that  the  system  of  slavery  is 
wrong.  If  I  am  a  slaveholder,  and  have  used 
no  vigorous  and  conscientious  efforts  to  qualify 
my  slaves  for  freedom,  I  have  sinned ;  and  if 
I  now,  earnestly  and  in  good  faith,  set  about 
the  work  of  preparation,  executing  deeds  of 
emancipation  for  my  slaves,  to  take  effect  at 
a  certain  fixed  period  hereafter,  by  which  pe 
riod  I  may  reasonably  hope  to  be  able  to  give 
them  a  suitable  preparation — if  I  do  all  this, 
as  duty  requires — I  do  not  expect  my  present 
conduct  to  cancel  my  past  sin,  but  I  do  con 
ceive  that  I  am  now  making  all  the  amends  in 
my  power.  So  far  from  sinning  now,  my 
present  course  is  virtuous  and  praiseworthy. 
There  are  three  classes  on  whom  the  guilt  of 
slavery  rests :  those  who  introduced  the  system 
among  us ;  those  who  have  assisted  to  perpet 
uate  it,  either  by  actual  efforts  or  by  mere 
negligence ;  and  those  are  now  refusing  to  co 
operate  in  its  extermination.  Thus,  in  assert 
ing  the  sinfulness  of  slavery  and  the  innocence 
of  gradual  emancipation,  we  do  not  commit 
the  absurdity  of  asserting  that  there  is  sin, 
and  yet  that  no  one  is  guilty ;  we  only  assign 
the  guilt  to  the  real  criminals.  We  shield  the 
innocent  from  false  imputation ;  we  strike  the 
serpent,  while  we  spare  the  sufferer  who  is 
struggling  in  his  coils. 

"The  difference,  then,  between  the  gradual 
emancipator  and  the  abolitionist  is  not  a  dif 
ference  as  to  the  criminal  nature  of  slavery — 
they  agree  in  considering  it  an  enormous  .evil — 
but  it  is  a  difference  as  to  the  best  mode  of 
getting  rid  of  this  evil.  The  gradualist  ter 
minates  slavery  by  first  changing  the  condition 
of  his  slaves  into  a  kind  of  apprenticeship;  he 
organizes  them  into  a  class  of  probationers  for 
freedom.  He  still  retains  for  a  time  his  author 
ity  over  them,  but  exercises  it  for  their  good 
as  well  as  his  own;  and  thus  prepares  them, 
as  speedily  as  possible,  for  the  enjoyment  of 
self-government.  The  abolitionist  would  put 
an  end  to  slavery  by  at  once  surrendering  up 
to  the  slaves  all  his  power  over  them ;  thus 
giving  them  the  immediate  and  full  enjoyment 
of  absolute  freedom.  It  seems  strange  that  a 
reasonable  and  unprejudiced  mind  could  hesi 
tate  for  a  moment  in  deciding  against  the  lat 
ter  plan.  An  uneducated  slave  is  little  better 
than  an  infant  with  the  stature  of  a  man.  To 
vest  such  a  being  with  the  power  of  absolute 
and  uncontrolled  self-government,  is  fraught 
not  only  with  mischief  to  others  around  him, 
but  with  almost  certain  destruction  to  himself 
and  misery  to  his  offspring." — See  African  (Col 
onization)  Repository,  April,  1835. 


REV.  ROBERT   J.  BRECKENRIDGE. 

An  Address  delivered  by  Rev.  R.  J.  Brecken- 
ridye,  of  Ky.,  before  the  Colonization  Society 
of  Kentucky,  at  Frankfort,  on  the  6th  day 
of  January,  1831. 

When  the  great  Lawgiver  of  the  Jews  was 
perfecting  that  remarkable  feature  of  his  code, 
by  which,  at  the  end  of  every  seven  years,  the 
debtor,  the  servant,  and  the  oppressed,  among 
the  Hebrews,  were  to  go  out  free  among  their 
brethren,  he  enforced  its  observance  by  the 
most  striking  and  personal  of  all  argument?  : 
"  Thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wast  a  bond 
man  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  the  Lord  thy 
God  redeemed  thee."  Again,  after  the  lapse 
of  a  thousand  years,  when  Israel  was  shorn  of 
all  her  temporal  glories,  and  the  feeble  remnant 
that  gathered  out  of  all  the  East  around  the 
sceptre  of  the  house  of  David  was  restored 
from  a  long  and  grievous  captivity,  it  was 
among  the  first  and  most  solemn  exclamations 
of  their  gratitude  :  "  We  were  bondmen,  yet 
our  God  hath  not  forsaken  us  in  our  bondage." 
If  there  be  any  that  now  hear  my  voice  who 
have  aided  in  working  out  the  civil  redemp 
tion  of  this  large  empire  ;  if  there  be  any 
whose  kindred  have  poured  out  their  blood  in 
achieving  the  glories  which  have  fallen  upon 
us ;  if  there  be  any  who  cherish  the  high  ex 
ploits  of  our  mighty  ancestors,  and  cultivate 
an  unquenching  love  for  the  free  and  noble  in 
stitutions  which  have  descended  to  us,  I  be 
seech  them  to  couple  with  the  lofty  emotions 
belonging  to  such  scenes,  the  solemn  recollec 
tion,  that  "we  were  bondmen."  If  any  who 
hear  me  have  been  led,  by  the  power  of  the 
everlasting  God,  into  the  liberty  of  his  own 
sons,  and  who,  rejoicing  in  the  hope  of  eternal 
life,  look  back  upon  the  bondage  out  of  which 
their  souls  have  been  redeemed,  with  unutter 
able  gratitude  to  Him  who  gave  himself  for 
them,  I  pray  them  to  bring  to  the  discussion 
which  lies  before  us  those  feelings  which  are 
produced  by  the  deep  and  sacred  assurance, 
that  "  our  God  hath  not  forsaken  us  in  our 
bondage." 

And  will  He  not  remember  others  also  1 
We  have  his  own  assurance,  that  "Ethiopia 
shall  soon  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God." 
Will  his  justice  sleep  forever?  Will  he  not 
"  behold  the  tears  of  such  as  are  oppressed?" 
Will  he  not  "judge  the  poor?"  Will  he  not 
"save  the  children  of  the  needy?"  Will  he 
not  "break  in  pieces  the  oppressor?"  The 
forsaken,  the  afflicted,  the  smitten  of  men,  will 
he  also  utterly  cast  off?  And  who  shall  stand 
in  the  way  of  his  righteous  indignation?  Who 
shall  resist  the  stroke  of  his  Almighty  arm, 
or  shield  us  from  his  fierce  and  consuming 
wrath?  Alas!  for  that  people,  who,  resisting 
all  the  lessons  of  a  wise  experience,  blind  to 
the  unchanging  course  of  the  providence  of 
God,  and  deaf  to  the  continual  admonitions 
of  his  eternal  Word,  will  madly  elect  to  brave 
the  fury  of  his  just  and  full  retribution  1  "  Be- 
1  cause  I  have  called,  and  ye  refused ;  I  have 
'  stretched  out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded; 


TUB    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


69 


but  ye  have  set  at  nought  all  my  counsel,  and 
would  none  of  my  reproofs  ;  I  also  will  laugh 
at  your  calamity  ;  I  will  mock  when  your  fear 
Cometh;  wheu  your  fear  cometh  as  desola 
tion,  and  your  destruction  cometh  as  a  whirl 
wind;  when  distress  and  anguish  cometh 
upon  you :  Then  shall  they  seek  me,  but 
shall  not  find  me." 

The  first  settlements  which  were  made  by 
the  English  on  the  continent  of  North  Amer 
ica  were  under  the  auspices  of  corporations, 
or  individuals,  to  whom  extensive  grants  had 
been  made  by  the  English  Crown.  The  com 
pany  that  settled  the  colony  of  Virginia  had 
monopolized  its  commerce  up  to  the  year  1620. 
In  that  year  this  monopoly  was  given  up,  and 
the  trade  opened.  A  Dutch  vessel  from  the 
coast  of  Guinea,  availing  itself  of  the  com 
mercial  liberty  which  prevailed,  brought  into 
James  river  twenty  Africans,  who  were  imme 
diately  purchased  as  slaves.  An  ordinance 
that  all  heathen  persons  might  be  held  as 
slaves,  and  that  their  descendants,  though 
Christians,  might  be  continued  in  slavery, 
sealed  on  this  continent  the  doom  of  the 
wretched  African.  Such  was  the  inception  of 
slavery  in  the  United  States.  Such  was  the 
first  settlement  among  us  of  an  oppressed  and 
suffering  race,  which  has  augmented  by  a 
very  rapid  propagation  and  continual  import 
ation,  in  somewhat  more  than  two  centuries, 
from  twenty  souls  to  two  millions.  Virginia, 
the  most  ancient  of  our  Commonwealths,  was 
the  first  of  them  to  lend  herself  to  the  op 
pression  of  these  unhappy  men.  Holland, 
who  had,  within  forty  years,  emancipated  her 
self  from  a  foreign  despotism,  used  the  large 
resources  which  grew  up  under  the  shade  of 
her  recovered  liberty,  to  deliver  up  an  unof 
fending  people  to  hopeless  bondage ;  and  that 
the  climax  of  cupidity  and  turpitude  might  be 
aptly  adjusted,  the  whole  matter  was  concluded 
in  the  name  of  Christianity. 

Men  were-  not  so  slow  in  discovering  the 
evils  of  the  unnatural  condition  of  society, 
whose  origin  among  us  I  have  been  attempt 
ing  to  disclose.  As  early  as  1698,  a  settle 
ment  of  Quakers,  near  Germantown,  in  Penn 
sylvania,  publicly  expressed  their  opinion  of 
the  unrighteousness  of  human  bondage.  And 
from  that  day  till  the  present,  there  have  flour 
ished  in  our  country  men  of  large  and  just 
views,  who  have  not  ceased  to  pour  over  this 
subject  a  stream  of  clear  and  noble  truth,  and 
to  importune  their  country,  by  every  motive 
of  duty  and  advantage,  to  wipe  from  her  es 
cutcheon  the  stain  of  human  tears.  They 
have  not  lived  in  vain.  In  better  times  their 
counsels  will  be  heard.  When  the  day  comes, 
and  come  it  surely  will,  when,  throughout 
this  broad  empire  not  an  aspiration  shall  go 
up  to  the  throne  of  God,  that  does  not  emanate 
from  a  freeman's  heart,  they  will  live  in  story, 
the  apostles  of  that  hallowed  reign  of  peace ; 
and  men  will  quote  their  names  to  adorn  the 
highest  lessons  of  wisdom,  and  enforce,  by 
great  examples,  the  practice  of  high  and  vir 


tuous  actions. — See  African  (Colonization)  Re 
pository  ,  August,  1831. 


GEN.  ROBERT  GOODLOE  HARPER. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  General  Robert  Goodloe 
Harper,  of  Md.,  to  Elia$  B.  Caldwell,  Secretary 
of  the  American  Colonization  Society,  dated 
Baltimore,  August  20, 1817. — See  First  Annual 
Report  of  the  Society. 

[General  Harper  was  a  native  of  Granville 
county,  North  Carolina — emigrated  to  South 
Carolina  at  an  early  period  of  his  life,  and 
represented  Charleston  District  in  Congress. 
He  afterwards  settled  in  Baltimore,  married 
the  daughter  of  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton, 
and  became  a  United  States  Senator  from 
Maryland.] 

Great,  however,  as  the  benefits  are  which 
we  may  thus  promise  ourselves  from  the  col 
onization  of  the  free  people  of  color,  by  its 
tendency  to  prevent  the  discontent  and  cor 
ruption  of  our  slaves,  and  to  secure  to  them 
a  better  treatment,  by  rendering  them  more 
worthy  of  it,  there  is  another  advantage,  in 
finitely  greater  in  every  point  of  view,  to  which 
it  may  lead  the  way.  It  tends,  and  may  pow 
erfully  tend,  to  rid  us,  gradually  and  entirely, 
in  the  United  States,  of  slaves  and  slavery;  a 
great  moral  and  political  evil,  of  increasing 
virulence  and  extent,  from  which  much  mis 
chief  is  now  felt,  and  very  great  calamity  in 
future  is  justly  apprehended.  It  is  in  this 
point  of  view,  I  confess,  that  your  scheme  of 
colonization  most  strongly  recommends  itself, 
in  my  opinion,  to  attention  and  support.  The 
alarming  danger  of  cherishing  in  our  bosom  a 
distinct  nation,  which  can  never  become  in 
corporated  with  us,  while  it  rapidly  increases 
in  numbers  and  improves  in  intelligence; 
learning  from  us  the  arts  of  peace  and  war, 
the  secret  of  its  own  strength,  and  the  talent 
of  combining  and  directing  its  force — a  nation 
which  must  ever  be  hostile  to  us,  from  feeling 
and  interest,  because  it  can  never  incorporate 
with  us,  nor  participate  in  the  advantages 
which  we  enjoy ;  the  danger  of  such  a  nation 
in  our  bosom  need  not  be  pointed  out  to  any 
reflecting  mind.  It  speaks  not  only  to  our 
understandings,  but  to  our  very  senses;  and 
however  it  may  be  derided  by  some,  or  over 
looked  by  others,  who  have  not  the  ability  or 
the  time,  or  do  not  give  themselves  the  trouble 
to  reflect  on  and  estimate  properly  the  force 
and  extent  of  those  great  moral  and  physical 
causes  which  prepare  gradually,  and  at  length 
bring  forth,  the  most  terrible  convulsions  in 
civil  society,  it  will  not  be  viewed  without  deep 
and  awful  apprehension  by  any  who  shall 
bring  sound  minds  and  some  share  of  political 
knowledge  and  sagacity  to  the  serious  consid 
eration  of  the  subject.  Such  persons  will  give 
their  most  serious  attention  to  any  proposition 
which  has  for  its  object  the  eradication  of  this 
terrible  mischief,  lurking  in  our  vitals.  I  shall 
presently  have  occasion  to  advert  a  little  to 


70 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


the  manner  in  which  your  intended  colony  will 
conduce  to  this  great  end.  It  is  therefore 
unnecessary  to  touch  on  it  here.  Indeed,  it 
is  too  obvious  to  require  much  explanation. 

But,  independently  of  this  view  of  the  case, 
there  is  enough  in  the  proposed  measure  to 
command  our  attention  and  support,  on  the 
score  of  benefit  to  ourselves. 

No  person  who  has  seen  the  slaveholding 
States,  and  those  where  slavery  does  not  exist, 
and  has  compared  ever  so  slightly  their  con 
dition  and  situation,  can  have  failed  to  be 
struck  with  the  vast  difference  in  favor  of  the 
latter.  This  difference  extends  to  everything, 
except  only  the  character  and  manners  of  the 
most  opulent  and  best-educated  people.  These 
are  very  much  the  same  everyAvhere.  But  in 
population;  in  the  general  diffusion  of  wealth 
and  comfort;  in  public  and  private  improve 
ments;  in  the  education,  manners,  and  mode 
of  life,  in  the  middle  and  laboring  classes;  in 
the  face  of  the  country;  in  roads,  bridges,  and 
inns  ;  in  schools  and  churches ;  in  the  general 
advancement  of  improvement  and  prosperity — 
there  is  no  comparison.  The  change  is  seen 
the  instant  you  cross  the  line  which  separates 
the  country  where  there  are  slaves  from  that 
where  there  are  none.  Even  in  the  same  State, 
the  parts  where  slaves  most  abound  are  uni 
formly  the  worst  cultivated,  the  poorest,  and 
the  least  populous ;  while  wealth  and  improve 
ment  uniformly  increase  as  the  number  of 
slaves  in  the  country  diminishes.  I  might 
prove  and  illustrate  this  position  by  many  ex 
amples,  drawn  from  a  comparison  of  different 
States,  as  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  and  be 
tween  different  counties  in  the  same  State, 
as  Charles  county  and  Frederick,  in  Maryland; 
but  it  is  unnecessary,  because  everybody  who 
has  seen  the  different  parts  of  the  country  has 
been  struck  by  this  difference. 

Whence  does  it  arise?  I  answer,  from  this: 
that  in  one  division  of  the  country  the  land  is 
cultivated  by  freemen,  for  their  own  benefit, 
and  in  the  other  almost  entirely  by  slaves,  for 
the  benefit  of  their  masters.  It  is  the  obvious 
interest  of  the  first  class  of  laborers  to  produce 
as  much  and  consume  as  little  as  possible,  and 
of  the  second  class  to  consume  as  much  and 
produce  as  little  as  possible.  What  the  slave 
consumes  is  for  himself;  what  he  produces  is 
for  his  master.  All  the  time  that  he  can  with 
draw  from  labor  is  gained  to  himself;  all  that 
he  spends  in  labor  is  devoted  to  his  master. 
All  that  the  free  laborer,  on  the  contrary,  can 
produce,  is  for  himself;  all  that  he  can  save, 
is  so  much  added  to  his  own  stock.  All  the 
time  that  he  loses  from  labor  is  his  own  loss. 

This,  if  it  were  all,  would  probably  be  quite 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  whole  difference 
in  question.  But,  unfortunately,  it  is  far  from 
being  all.  Another,  and  a  still  more  injurious 
effect  of  slavery,  remains  to  be  considered. 

Where  the  laboring  class  is  composed  wholly, 
or  in  a  very  considerable  degree,  of  slaves,  and 
of  slaves  distinguished  from  the  free  class  by 
color,  features,  and  origin,  the  ideas  of  labor 
and  of  slavery  soon  become  connected  in  the 


minds  of  the  free  class.  This  arises  from  that 
association  of  ideas  which  forms  one  of  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  human  mind,  and 
with  which  every  reflecting  person  is  well  ac 
quainted.  They  who  continually  from  their 
infancy  see  black  slaves  employed  in  labor, 
and  forming  by  much  the  most  numerous  class 
of  laborers,  insensibly  associate  the  ideas  of 
labor  and  of  slavery,  and  are  almost  irresistibly 
led  to  consider  labor  as  a  badge  of  slavery,  and 
consequently  as  a  degradation.  To  be  idle, 
on  the  contrary,  is  in  their  view  the  mark  and 
the  privilege  of  freemen.  The  effect  of  this 
habitual  feeling  upon  that  class  of  free  whites 
which  ought  to  labor,  and  consequently  upon 
their  condition,  and  the  general  condition  of 
the  country,  will  be  readily  perceived  by  those 
who  reflect  on  such  subjects.  It  is  seen  in  the 
vast  difference  between  the  laboring  class  of 
whites  in  the  Southern  and  Middle,  and  those 
of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States.  Why  are 
the  latter  incomparably  more  industrious,  more 
thriving,  more  orderly,  more  comfortably  sit 
uated,  than  the  former?  The  effect  is  obvious 
to  all  those  who  have  travelled  through  the 
different  parts  of  our  country.  What  is  the 
cause  ?  It  is  found  in  the  association  between 
the  idea  of  slavery  and  the  idea  of  labor,  and 
in  the  feeling  produced  by  this  association, 
that  labor,  the  proper  occupation  of  negro 
slaves,  and  especially  agricultural  labor,  is  de 
grading  to  a  free  white  man. 

Thus  we  see  that,  where  slavery  exists,  the 
slave  labors  as  little  as  possible,  because  all 
the  time  that  he  can  withdraw  from  labor  is 
saved  to  his  own  enjoyments;  and  consumes 
as  much  as  possible,  because  what  he  consumes 
belongs  to  his  master;  while  the  free  white 
man  is  insensibly  bat  irresistibly  led  to  regard 
labor,  the  occupation  of  slaves,  as  a  degra 
dation,  and  to  avoid  it  as  much  as  he  can. 
The  effect  of  these  combined  and  powerful 
causes,  steadily  and  constantly  operating  in 
the  same  direction,  may  easily  be  conceived. 
It  is  seen  in  the  striking  difference  which  ex 
ists  between  the  slaveholding  sections  of  our 
country  and  those  where  slavery  is  not  per 
mitted. 

It  is  therefore  obvious  that  a  vast  benefit 
would  be  conferred  on  the  country,  and  espe 
cially  on  the  slaveholding  districts,  if  all  the 
slave  laborers  could  be  gradually  and  imper 
ceptibly  withdrawn  from  cultivation,  and  their 
place  supplied  by  free  white  laborers — I  say 
gradually  and  imperceptibly,  because,  if  it 
were  possible  to  withdraw,  suddenly  and  at 
once,  so  great  a  portion  of  the  effective  labor 
of  the  community  as  is  now  supplied  by  slaves, 
it  would  be  productive  of  the  most  disastrous 
consequences.  It  would  create  an  immense 
void,  which  could  not  be  filled;  it  would  im 
poverish  a  great  part  of  the  community,  un 
hinge  the  whole  frame  of  society  in  a  large 
portion  of  the  country,  and  probably  end  in 
the  most  destructive  convulsions.  But  it  is 
clearly  impossible,  and  therefore  we  need  not 
enlarge  on  the  evils  which  it  would  produce. 

But  to  accomplish  this  great  and  beneficial 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


71 


change  gradually  and  imperceptibly,  to  sub-  | 
stitute  a  free  white  class  of  cultivators  for  the  • 
slaves,  with  the  consent  of  the  owners,  by  a  ! 
slow  but  steady  and  certain  operation,  I  hold  | 
to  be  as  practicable  as  it  would  be  beneficial ; 
and  I  regard  this  scheme  of  colonization  as  the 
first  step  in  that  great  enterprise. 

This  is  what  your  society  propose  to  accom 
plish.  Their  project  therefore,  if  rightly  formed 
and  well  conducted,  will  open  the  way  for  this 
more  extensive  and  beneficial  plan  of  removing, 
gradually  and  imperceptibly,  but  certainly,  the 
whole  colored  population  from  the  country, 
and  leaving  its  place  to  be  imperceptibly  sup 
plied,  as  it  would  necessarily  be,  by  a  class  of 
free  white  cultivators.  In  every  part  of  the 
countr}r,  this  operation  must  necessarily  be 
slow.  In  the  Southern  and  Southwestern 
States  it  will  be  very  long  before  it  can  be  ac 
complished,  and  a  very  considerable  time  must 
probably  elapse  before  it  can  even  commence. 
It  will  begin  first,  and  be  first  completed,  in  the 
Middle  States,  where  the  evils  of  slavery  are 
most  sensibly  felt,  the  desire  of  getting  rid  of 
the  slaves  is  already  strong,  and  a  greater  fa 
cility  exists  of  supplying  their  place  by  white 
cultivators.  From  thence  it  will  gradually 
extend  to  the  South  and  Southwest,  till,  by  its 
steady,  constant,  and  imperceptible  operation, 
the  evils  of  slavery  shall  be  rooted  out  from 
every  part  of  the  United  States,  and  the  slaves 
themselves,  and  their  posterity,  shall  be  con 
verted  into  a  free,  civilized,  and  great  nation,  j 
in  the  country  from  which  their  progenitors 
were  dragged,  to  be  wretched  themselves  and  j 
a  curse  to  the  whites. 


JAMES  MADISON. 

The  United  States  having  been  the  first  to 
abolish,  within  the  extent  of  their  authority, 
the  transportation  of  the  natives  of  Africa 
into  slavery,  by  prohibiting  the  introduction 
of  slaves,  and  by  punishing  their  citizens 
participating  in  the  traffic,  cannot  but  be  grati 
fied  by  the  progress  made  by  concurrent  efforts 
of  other  nations  towards  a  general  suppression 
of  so  great  an  evil.  They  must  feel,  at  the 
same  time,  the  greater  solicitude  to  give  the 
fullest  efficacy  to  their  own  regulations.  With 
that  view,  the  interposition  of  Congress  ap 
pears  to  be  required,  by  the  violations  and 
evasions  which,  it  is  suggested,  are  chargeable 
on  unworthy  citizens,  who  mingle  in  the  slave 
trade  under  foreign  flags,  and  with  foreign 
ports  ;  and  by  collusive  importations  of  slaves 
into  the  United  States,  through  adjoining 
ports  and  territories.  I  present  the  subject  to 
Congress,  with  a  full  assurance  of  their  dis 
position  to  apply  all  the  remedy  which  can  be 
afforded  by  an  amendment  of  the  law.  The 
regulations  which  were  intended  to  guard 
against  abuses  of  a  kindred  character  in  the 
trade  between  the  several  States,  ought  also 
to  be  more  effectual  for  their  humane  object. — 
Message  to  Congress,  Dec.  3,  1816. 


JOHN  RANDOLPH. 

Report  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  John 
Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  as  chairman  of  a  Com 
mittee,  in  March,  1803. 

From  the  Convention  held  at  Vincennes,  in  j 
Indiana,  by  their  President,  and  from  the  peo-  i 
pie  of  the  Territory,  a  petition  was  presented  j 
to   Congress,   praying  the  suspension  of  the  j 
provision   which   prohibited    slavery  in   that  j 
Territory.     The  report  stated  "that  the  rapid 
population   of  the   State  of  Ohio   sufficiently 
evinces,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  that 
the  labor  of  slaves  is  not  necessary  to  promote 
the  growth  and  settlement  of  colonies  in  that 
region.      That   this  labor,   demonstrably  the  | 
dearest  of  any,  can  only  b«S  employed  to  ad 
vantage  in  the  cultivation  of  products  more 
valuable  than  any  known  to  that  quarter  of 
the  United  States;  that  the  committee  deem  it 
highly  dangerous  and  inexpedient  to  impair  a 
provision  wisely  calculated   to   promote  the 
happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  Northwestern 
country,  and  to  give  strength  and  security  to 
that  extensive  frontier.    In  the  salutary  opera 
tion  of  this  sagacious  and  benevolent  restraint, 
it  is  believed  that  the  inhabitants  will,  at  no 
very  distant  day,  find  ample  remuneration  for 
a  temporary  privation  of  labor  and  emigra 
tion. — 1  vol.  State  Papers,  Public  Lands,  160. 


JAMES  MONROE. 

It  is  the  cause  of  serious  regret,  that  no  ar 
rangement  has  yet  been  finally  concluded  be 
tween  the  two  Governments,  to  secure,  by  joint 
co-operation,  the  suppression  of  the  slave  trade-. 
It  was  the  object  of  the  British  Government, 
in  the  early  stages  of  the  negotiation,  to  adopt 
the  plan  for  the  suppression  which  should 
include  the  concession  of  the  mutual  right  of 
search  by  the  ships  of  war  of  each  party,  of 
the  vessels  of  the  other,  for  suspected  offend 
ers.  This  was  objected  to  by  this  Govern 
ment,  on  the  principle  that,  as  the  right  of 
search  was  the  right  of  war  of  a  belligerent 
towards  a  neutral  power,  it  might  have  ai? 
ill  effect  to  extend  it,  by  treaty,  to  an  offence 
that  had  been  made  comparatively  mild,  to 
a  time  of  peace.  Anxious,  however,  for  the 
suppression  of  this  trade,  it  was  thought  ad 
visable,  in  compliance  with  a  resolution  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  founded  on  an 
act  of  Congress,  to  propose  to  the  British 
Government  an  expedient  which  should  be  free 
from  that  objection,  and  more  effectual  for  the 
object,  by  making  it  piratical.  In  that  mode, 
the  enormity  of  the  crime  would  place  the 
offenders  out  of  the  protection  of  their  Gov 
ernment,  and  involve  no  question  of  search,  or 
other  question,  between  the  parties,  touching 
their  respective  rights.  It  was  believed,  also, 
that  it  would  completely  suppress  the  trade  in 
the  vessels  of  both  parties,  and  by  their  re 
spective  citizens  and  subjects,  in  those  of  other 
powers  with  whom,  it  was  hoped,  that  the 
odium  which  would  thereby  be  attached  to  it, 
would  produce  a  corresponding  arrangement, 
and,  by  means  thereof,  its  entire  extirpation 
forever.  A  convention  to  this  effect  was  con- 


72 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


eluded  and  signed  in  London,  on  the  thirteenth 
day  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  twenty-tour,  by  plenipotentiaries  duly  au 
thorized  by  both  Governments,  to  the  ratifica 
tion  of  which  certain  obstacles  have  arisen, 
which  are  not  yet  entirely  removed.  The  dif 
ference  between  the  parties  still  remaining 
has  been  reduced  to  a  point  not  of  sufficient 
magnitude,  as  is  presumed,  to  be  permitted  to 
defeat  an  object  so  near  to  the  heart  of  both 
nations,  and  so  desirable  to  the  friends  of  hu 
manity  throughout  the  world. — Message  to  Con 
gress,  December  7,  1824. 


GENERAL  JACKSON. 

The  following  is  Gen.  Jackson's  Address  to  the 
"Men  of  Color,"  on  the  18th  December,  1814, 
at  New  Orleans: 

SOLDIERS  :  From  the  shores  of  Mobile  I  col 
lected  you  to  arms.  I  invited  you  to  share  in 
the  perils  and  to  divide  the  glory  of  your  white 
countrymen.  I  expected  much  from  you,  for  I 
was  not  uninformed  of  those  qualities  which 
must  render  you  so  formidable  to  an  invading 
foe.  I  knew  that  you  could  endure  hunger 
and  thirst,  and  all  the  hardships  of  war.  I 
knew  that  you  loved  the  land  of  your  nativity, 
and  that,  like  ourselves,  you  had  to  defend  all 
that  is  most  dear  to  man  —  but  you  surpass  my 
hopes.  1  have  found  in  you,  united  to  those  qual 
ities,  that  noble  enthusiasm  which  impels  to  great 
deeds. 

Soldiers  ^  The  President  of  the  United 
States  shalrbe  informed  of  your  conduct  on 
the  present  occasion,  and  the  voice  of  the 
Representatives  of  the  American  Nation  shall 
applaud  your  valor,  as  your  general  now 
praises  your  ardor.  The  enemy  is  near  ;  his 
"sails  cover  the  lakes;"  but  the  brave  are 
united,  and  if  he  finds  us  contending  among 
ourselves,  it  will  be  for  the  prize  of  valor,  and 
fame,  its  noblest  reward. 

By  command.          THOS.  L.  BUTLER, 

Aid  de  Camp. 
[See  Giles's  Register,  Vol.  VII,  p.  346.] 

ORDINANCE  OF  ITS 7. 

While  the  Convention  for  drafting  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  was  in  session, 
in  1787,  the  Old  Congress  passed  an  ordinance 
abolishing  slavery  in  the  Northwestern  Terri 
tory,  and  precluding  its  future  introduction 
there.  The  first  Congress  under  the  new  Con 
stitution  ratified  this  ordinance,  by  a  special 
act.  It  received  the  approval  of  Washington, 
who  was  then  fresh  from  the  discussions  of 
the  Convention  for  drafting  the  Federal  Con 
stitution.  The  measure  originated  with  Jeffer 
son,  and  its  ratification  in  the  new  Congress 
received  the  vote  of  every  member  except  Mr. 
Yates,  of  New  York,  the  entire  Southern  delegation 
voting  for  its  adoption.  By  this  ordinance,  sla 
very  was  excluded  from  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa. 

The  series  of  articles  is  preceded  by  this 
preamble: 

"  And  for  extending  tne  fundamental  princi 


ples  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  which  form 
the  basis  whereon  these  Republics,  their  laws 
and  Constitutions,  are  erected;  to  fix  and  es 
tablish  those  principles  as  the  basis  of  all  laws, 
Constitutions,  and  governments,  which  forever 
hereafter  shall  be  formed  in  said  Territory;  to 
provide,  also,  for  the  establishment  of  States, 
and  permanent  government  therein,  and  for 
their  admission  to  a  share  in  the  Federal  coun 
cils,  at  as  early  a  period  as  may  be  consistent 
with  the  general  interest:  Be  it  ordained  and 
established,"  &c.,  &c. 

Then  follow  the  articles.  The  sixth  is  as 
follows: 

"There  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  invol 
untary  servitude,  otherwise  than  in  the  pun 
ishment  of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall 
have  been  duly  convicted:  Provided,  always, 
That  any  person  escaping  into  the  same,  from 
whom  labor  or  service  may  be  lawfully  claimed 
in  any  one  of  the  original  States,  such  fugitive 
may  be  lawfully  reclaimed,  and  conveyed  to 
the  person  claiming  his  or  her  labor  or  service, 
as  aforesaid." 


JUDICIAL  DECISIONS. 

No  case  in  England,  says  Judge  McLean, 
appears  to  have  been  more  thoroughly  exam 
ined  than  that  of  Somersett.  The  judgment 
pronounced  by  Lord  Mansfield  was  the  judg 
ment  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench.  The  cause 
was  argued  at  great  length,  and  with  great 
ability,  by  Hargrave  and  others,  who  stood 
among  the  most  eminent  counsel  in  England. 
It  was  held  under  advisement  from  term  to 
term,  and  a  due  sense  of  its  importance  was 
felt  and  expressed  by  the  Bench. 

In  giving  the  opinion  of  the  court,  Lord 
Mansfield  said: 

"  The  state  of  slavery  is  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  is  incapable  of  being  introduced  on  any  rea 
sons,  moral  or  political,  but  only  by  positive 
law,  which  preserves  its  force  long  after  the 
reasons,  occasion,  and  time  itself,  from  whence 
it  was  created,  is  erased  from  the  memory;  it 
is  of  a  nature  that  nothing  can  be  suffered  to 
support  it  but  positive  law." 

In  the  case  of  Rankin  v.  Lydia,  (2  A.  K.  Mar 
shall's  Rep.,)  Judge  Mills,  speaking  for  the 
Court  of  Appeals  of  Kentucky,  -says:  "In  de 
ciding  the  question,'  (of  slavery,)  we  disclaim 
the  influence  of  the  principles  of  general  liber 
ty,  which  we  all  admire,  and  conceive  it  ought 
to  be  decided  by  the  law  as  it  is,  and  not  as  it 
ought  to  be.  Slavery  is  sanctioned  by  the 
laws  of  this  State,  and  the  right  to  hold  slaves 
under  our  municipal  regulations  is  unquestion 
able.  But  we  view  this  as  a  right  existing  by 
positive  law  of  a  municipal  character,  without 
foundation  in  the  law  of  nature,  or  the  unwrit 
ten  and  common  law." 

In  the  discussion  of  the  power  of  Congress 
to  govern  a  Territory,  in  the  case  of  the  Atlan 
tic  Insurance  Company  v.  Canter,  (1  Peters, 
511;  7  Curtis,  685,)  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 


THE  SOUTHERN  PLATFORM. 


73 


speaking  for  the  court,  said,  in  regard  to  the 
people  of  Florida,  "they  do  not,  however,  par 
ticipate  in  political  power;  they  do  not  share 
in  the  Government  till  Florida  shall  become  a 
State;  in  the  mean  time,  Florida  continues  to 
be  a  Territory  of  the  United  States,  governed 
by  virtue  of  that  clause  in  the  Constitution 
.which  empowers  Congress  'to  make  all  need 
ful  rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  terri 
tory  or  other  property  belonging  to  the  United 
States.' " 

And  he  adds,  "perhaps  the  power  of  gov 
erning  a  Territory  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  which  has  not,  by  becoming  a  State, 
acquired  the  means  of  self-government,  may 
result  necessarily  from  the  fact  that  it  is  not 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  particular  State, 
and  is  within  the  power  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States.  The  right  to  govern  may  be 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  the  right  to  ac 
quire  territory;  whichever  may  be  the  source 
whence  the  power  is  derived,  the  possession 
of  it  is  unquestioned."  And  in  the  close  of 
the  opinion,  the  court  say,  "in  legislating  for 
them,  [the  Territories,]  Congress  exercises  the 
combined  powers  of  the  General  and  State 
Governments." 

In  the  case  of  Prigg  v.  The  State  of  Penn 
sylvania,  the  court  says : 

"By  the  general  law  of  nations,  no  nation 
is  bound  to  recognise  the  state  of  slavery  as 
found  within  its  territorial  dominions,  where 
it  is  in  opposition  to  its  own  policy  and  insti 
tutions,  in  favor  of  the  subjects  of  other  nations 
where  slavery  is  organized.  If  it  does  it,  it 
is  as  a  matter  of  comity,  and  not  as  a  matter 
of  international  right.  The  state  of  slavery 
is  deemed  to  be  a  mere  municipal  regulation, 
founded  upon  and  limited  to  the  range  of  the 
territorial  laws."  And  the  court  further  says: 
"It  is  manifest,  from  this  consideration,  that 
if  the  Constitution  had  not  contained  the  clause 
requiring  the  rendition  of  fugitives  from  labor, 
every  non-slaveholding  State  in  the  Union 
would  have  been  at  liberty  to  have  declared 
free  all  runaway  slaves  coming  within  its 
limits,  and  to  have  given  them  entire  immu 
nity  and  protection  against  the  claims  of  their 
masters." 

Rachel  v.  Walker  (4  Missouri  Rep.,  350.  June 
term,  1836)  is  a  case  involving,  in  every  par 
ticular,  the  principles  of  the  case  before  us. 
Rachel  sued  for  her  freedom ;  and  it  appeared 
that  she  had  been  bought  as  a  slave  in  Mis 
souri,  by  Stockton,  an  officer  of  the  army, 
taken  to  Fort  Snelling,  where  lie  was  stationed, 
and  she  was  retained  there  :<s  a  slave  a  year; 
and  then  Stockton  removed  ti>  Prairie  du  Chien, 
taking  Rachel  with  him  as  :i  slave,  where  he 
continued  to  hold  her  three  \  ears,  and  then  he 
took  her  to  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  sold  her 
as  a  slave. 

"Fort  Snelling  was  admitted  to  be  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Mississippi  river,  and  north  of 
the  State  of  Missouri,  in  the  territory  of  the 
United  States.  That  Prairie  du  Chien  was  in 
the  Michigan  Territory,  on  the  east  side  of  the 


Mississippi  river.  Walker,  the  defendant,  held 
Rachel  under  Stockton." 

The  court  said,  in  this  case: 

"  The  officer  lived  in  Missouri  Territory  at 
the  time  he  bought  the  slave;  he  sent  to  a 
slaveholding  country  and  procured  her;  this 
was  his  voluntary  act,  done  without  any  other 
reason  than  that  of  his  convenience;  and  he 
and  those  claiming  under  him  must  be  holden 
to  abide  the  consequences  of  introducing  sla 
very  both  in  Missouri  Territory  and  Michigan, 
contrary  to  law ;  and  on  that  ground  Rachel 
was  declared  to  be  entitled  to  freedom." 

In  answer  to  the  argument  that,  as  an  officer 
of  the  army,  the  master  had  a  right  to  take  his 
slave  into  free  territorv,  the  court  said  no  au 
thority  of  law  or  the  Government  compelled 
him  to  keep  the  plaintiff  there  as  a  slave. 

"  Shall  it  be  said,  that  because  an  officer  of 
the  army  owns  slaves  in  Virginia,  that  Avhen, 
as  an  officer  and  soldier,  he  is  required  to  take 
the  command  of  a  fort  in  the  non-slaveholding 
States  or  Territories,  he  thereby  has  a  right  to 
take  with  him  as  many  slaves  as  will  suit  his 
interests  or  convenience?  It  surely  cannot  be 
law.  If  this  be  true,  the  court  say,  then  it  is 
also  true  that  the  convenience  or  supposed 
convenience  of  the  officer  repeals,  as  to  him 
and  others  Avho  have  the  same  character,  the 
ordinance  and  the  act  of  1821.  admitting  Mis 
souri  into  the  Union,  and  also  the  prohibition 
of  the  several  laws  and  Constitutions  of  the 
non-slaveholding  States." 

In  the  case  of  Dred  Scott  v.  Emerson,  (15  Mis 
souri  Rep.,  682,  March  term,  1852,)  two  of  the 
judges  ruled  the  case,  the  Chief  Justice  dis 
senting. 

Chief  Justice  Gamble  dissented  from  the  other 
two  judges.  He  says: 

"In  every  slaveholding  State  in  the  Union, 
the  subject  of  emancipation  is  regulated  by 
statute ;  and  the  forms  are  prescribed  in  which 
it  shall  be  effected.  Whenever  the  forms  re 
quired  by  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  the 
master  and  slave  are  resident  are  complied 
with,  the  emancipation  is  complete,  and  the 
slave  is  free.  If  the  right  of  the  person  thus 
emancipated  is  subsequently  drawn  in  question 
in  another  State,  it  will  be  ascertained  and 
determined  by  the  law  of  the  State  in  which 
the  slave  and  his  former  master  resided;  and 
when  it  appears  that  such  lav,'  has  been  com 
plied  with,  the  right  to  freedom  will  be  fully 
sustained  in  the  courts  of  all  the  slaveholding 
States,  although  the  act  of  emancipation  may 
not  be  in  the  form  required  by  law  in  which 
the  court  sits. 

"In  all  such  cases,  courts  continually  ad 
minister  the  law  of  the  country  Avhere  the  right 
was  acquired;  and  when  that  law  becomes 
known  to  the  court,  it  is  just  as  much  a  matter 
of  course  to  decide  the  rights  of  the  parties 
according  to  it  requirements,  as  it  is  to  settle 
the  title  of  real  estate  situated  in  our  State  by 
its  own  laws." 

This  appears  to  me  a  most  satisfactory  an- 


THE   SOUTHERN    PLATFORT. 


swer  to  the  argument  of  the  court.  Chief  Jus 
tice  continues: 

"The  perfect  equality  of  the  different  States 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  Union.  As  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  is  one  over 
which  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
gives  no  power  to  the  General  Government,  it 
is  left  to  be  adopted  or  rejected  by  the  several 
States,  as  they  think  best ;  nor  can  any  one 
State,  or  number  of  States,  claim  the  right  to 
interfere  with  any  other  State  upon  the  ques 
tion  of  admitting  or  excluding  this  institution. 

"A  citizen  of  Missouri,  who  removes  with 
his  slave  to  Illinois,  has  no  right  to  complain 
that  the  fundamental  law  of  that  State  to  which 
he  removes,  and  in  which  he  makes  his  resi 
dence,  dissolves  the  relation  between  him  and 
his  slave.  It  is  as  much  his  own  voluntary 
act,  as  if  he  had  executed  a  deed  of  emancipa 
tion.  No  one  can  pretend  ignorance  of  this 
constitutional  provision,  and,"  he  says,  "the 
decisions  which  have  heretofore  been  made  in 
this  State,  and  in  many  other  slaveholding 
States,  give  effect  to  this  and  other  similar 
provisions,  on  the  ground  that  the  master,  by 
making  the  free  State  the  residence  of  his 
slave,  has  submitted  his  right  to  the  operation 
of  the  law  of  such  State;  and  this,"  he  says, 
"  is  the  same  in  law  as  a  regular  deed  of  eman 
cipation." 

He  adds : 

"I  regard  the  question  as  conclusively  set 
tled  by  the  repeated  adjudications  of  this  court, 
and,  if  I  doubted  or  denied  the  propriety  of 
those  decisions,  I  would  not  feel  myself  any 
more  at  liberty  to  overturn  them,  than  I  would 
any  other  series  of  decisions  by  which  the  law 
of  any  other  question  was  settled.  There  is 
with  me,"  he  says,  "nothing  in  the  law  rela 
ting  to  slavery  which  distinguishes  it  from  the 
law  on  any  other  subject,  or  allows  any  more 
accommodation  to  the  temporary  public  ex 
citements  which  are  gathered  around  it." 

"In  this  State,"  he  says,  " it  has  been  recog 
nised  from  the  beginning  of  the  Government 
as  a  correct  position  in  law,  that  a  master  who 
takes  his  slave  to  reside  in  a  State  or  Territory 
where  slavery  is  prohibited,  thereby  emanci 
pates  his  slave." 

In  1851,  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  South  Car 
olina  recognised  the  principle,  that  a  slave, 
being  taken  to  a  free  State,  became  free.  (Com 
monwealth  v.  Pleasants,  10  Leigh  Rep.,  697.) 
In  Betty  v.  Horton,  the  Court  of  Appeals  held 
that  the  freedom  of  the  slave  was  acquired  by 
the  action  of  the  laws  of  Massachusetts,  by  the 
said  slave  being  taken  there.  (5  Leigh  R.,  615.) 

In  the  case  of  Spencer  v.  Negro  Dennis,  (8 
Gill's  Rep.,  321,)  the  court  say:    "Once  free, 
and  always  free,  is  the  maxim  of  Maryland  law 
upon  the  subject.    Freedom  having  once  vested, 
by  no  compact  between  the  master  and  the 
liberated  slave,  nor  by  any  condition  subse 
quent,  attached  by  the  master  to  the  gift  of 
freedom,  can  a  state  of  slavery  be  reproduced." 
In  Hunter  v.  Bulcher,  (1  Leigh,  172:) 
"By  a  statute  of  Maryland  of  1796,  all  slaves 


brought  into  that  State  to  reside  are  declared 
free;  a  Virginian-born  slave  is  carried  by  his 
master  to  Maryland;  the  master  settled  there, 
and  keeps  the  slave  there  in  bondage  for  twelve 
years,  the  statute  in  force  all  the  time;  then 
lie  brings  him  as  a  slave  to  Virginia,  and  sells 
him  there.  Adjudged,  in  an  action  brought 
by  the  man  against  the  purchaser,  that  he  is 
free." 

Judge  Kerr,  in  the  case,  says : 

"Agreeing,  as  I  do,  with  the  general  view 
taken  in  this  case  by  my  brother  Green,  I  would 
not  add  a  word,  but  to  mark  the  exact  extent 
to  which  I  mean  to  go.  The  law  of  Maryland 
having  enacted  that  slaves  carried  into  that 
State  for  sale  or  to  reside  shall  be  free,  and 
the  owner  of  the  slave  here  having  carried 
him  to  Maryland,  and  voluntarily  submitting 
himself  and  the  slave  to  that  law,  it  governs 
the  case."  — 

Josephine  v.  Poultney,  (Louisiana  An.  Rep., 
329,)  "where  the  owner  removes  with  a  slave 
into  a  State  in  which  slavery  is  prohibited, 
with  the  intention  of  residing  there,  the  slave 
will  be  thereby  emancipated,  and  their  subse 
quent  return  to  the  State  of  Louisiana  cannot 
restore  the  relation  of  master  and  slave."  To 
the  same  import  are  the  cases  of  Smith  v.  Smith, 
(13  Louisiana  Rep.,  441,)  Thomas  v.  Generis, 
(Louisiana  Rep.,  483,)  Harry  et  al.  v.  Decker 
and  Hopkins,  (Walker's  Mississippi  Rep.,  36.) 
It  was  held  that  "slaves  within  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  Northwestern  Territory  became 
freemen  by  virtue  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787, 
and  can  assert  their  claim  to  freedom  in  the 
courts  of  Mississippi."  (Griffith  v.  Fanny,  1 
Virginia  Rep.,  143.)  It  was  decided  that  a 
negro  held  in  servitude  in  Ohio,  under  a  deed 
executed  in  Virginia,  is  entitled  to  freedom  by 
the  Constitution  of  Ohio. 


The  case  of  Rhodes  v.  Bell  (2  Howard,  307; 
15  Curtis,  152)  involved  the  main  principle  in 
the  case  before  us.  A  person  residing  in  Wash 
ington  city  purchased  a  slave  in  Alexandria, 
and  brought  him  to  Washington.  Washington 
continued  under  the  law  of  Maryland,  Alexan 
dria  under  the  law  of  Virginia.  The  act  of 
Maryland  of  November,  1796,  (2  Maxcy's  Laws, 
351,)  declared  any  one  who  shall  bring  any 
negro,  mulatto,  or  other  slave,  into  Maryland, 
such  slave  should  be  free.  The  above  slave, 
by  reason  of  his  being  brought  into  WTashing- 
ton  city,  was  declared  by  this  court  to  be  free. 
This,  it  appears  to  me,  is  a  much  stronger  case 
against  the  slave  than  the  facts  in  the  case  of 
Scott. 

In  Bush  v.  White,  (3  Monroe,  104,)  the  court 
say: 

"That  the  ordinance  was  paramount  to  the 
Territorial  laws,  and  restrained  the  legislative 
power  there  as  effectually  as  a  Constitution  in 
an  organized  State.  It  was  a  public  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  Union,  and  a  part  of  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land;  and,  as  such,  this 
court  is  as  much  bound  to  take  notice  of  it  as 
it  can  be  of  any  other  law." 


.THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


75 


In  the  case  of  Rankin  v.  Lydia,  before  cited, 
Judge  Mills,  speaking  for  the  Court  of  Appeals 
of  Kentucky, says : 

"  If,  by  the  positive  provision  in  our  code, 
we  can  and  must  hold  our  slaves  in  the  one 
case,  and  statutory  provisions  equally  positive 
decide  against  that  rightain  the  other,  and 
liberate  the  slave,  he  must,  by  an  authority 
equally  imperious,  be  declared  free.  Every 
argument  which  supports  the  right  of  the  mas 
ter  on  one  side,  based  upon  the  force  of  written 
law,  must  be  equally  conclusive  in  favor  of  the 
slave,  when  he  can  point  out  in  the  statute  the 
clause  which  secures  his  freedom." 

And  he  further  said: 

"Free  people  of  color  in  all  the  States  are, 
it  is  believed,  quasi  citizens,  or,  at  least,  deni 
zens.  Although  none  of  the  States  may  allow 
them  the  privilege  of  office  and  suifrage,  yet 
all  other  civil  and  conventional  rights  are  se 
cured  to  them;  at  least,  such  rights  were  evi 
dently  secured  to  them  by  the  ordinance  in 
question  for  the  government  of  Indiana.  If 
these  rights  are  vested  in  that  or  any  other 
portion  of  the  United  States,  can  it  be  com 
patible  with  the  spirit  of  our  Confederated 
Government  to  deny  their  existence  in  any 
other  part?  Is  there  less  comity  existing 
between  State  and  State,  or  State  and  Ter 
ritory,  than  exists  between  the  despotic  Gov 
ernments  of  Europe?" 

The  Supreme  Court  of  North  Carolina,  in 
the  case  of  the  State  v,  Manuel,-  (4  Dev.  and 
Bat.,  20,)  has  declared  the  law  of  that  State 
on  this  subject,  in  terms  which  I  believe  to  be 
as  sound  law  in  the  other  States  I  have  enu 
merated,  as  it  was  in  North  Carolina. 

"According  to  the  laws  of  this  State,"  says 
Judge  Gaston,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of 
the  court,  "all  human  beings  within  it,  who 
are  not  slaves,  fall  within  one  of  two  classes. 
Whatever  distinctions  may  have  existed  in  the 
Roman  laws  between  citizens  and  free  inhab 
itants,  they  are  unknown  to  our  institutions. 
Before  our  Revolution,  all  free  persons  born 
within  the  dominions  of  the  King  of  Great 
Britain,  whatever  their  color  or  complexion, 
were  native-born  British  subjects — those  born 
out  of  his  allegiance  were  aliens.  Slavery  did 
not  exist  in  England,  but  it  did  in  the  British 
colonies.  Slaves  were  not  in  legal  parlance 
persons,  but  property.  The  moment  the  in 
capacity,  the  disqualification  of  slavery,  was 
removed,  they  became  persons,  and  were  then 
either  British  subjects,  or  not  British  subjects, 
according  as  they  were  or  were  not  born  within 
the  allegiance  of  the  British  King.  Upon  the 
Revolution,  no  other  change  took  place  in  the 
laws  of  North  Carolina  than  was  consequent 
on  the  transition  from  a  colony  dependent  on 
a  European  King,  to  a  free  and  sovereign  State. 
Slaves  remained  slaves.  British  subjects  in 
North  Carolina  became  North  Carolina  free 
men.  Foreigners,  until  made  members  of  the 
State,  remained  aliens.  Slaves,  manumitted 
here,  became  freemen,  and  therefore,  if  born 
within  North  Carolina,  are  citizens  of  North 


Carolina,  and  all  free  persons  born  within  the 
State  are  born  citizens  of  the  State.  The  Con 
stitution  extended  the  elective  franchise  to 
every  freeman  who  had  arrived  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  and  paid  a  public  tax;  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  universal  notoriety,  that,  under  it, 
free  persons,  without  regard  to  color,  claimed 
and  exercised  the  franchise,  until  it  was  taken 
from  the  free  men  of  color  a  few  years  since 
by  our  amended  Constitution." 

In  the  State  v.  Newcomb,  (5  Iredell's  R.,  253,) 
decided  in  1844,  the  same  court  referred  to  this 
case  of  the  State  v.  Manuel,  and  said:  "That 
case  underwent  a  very  laborious  investigation, 
both  by  the  bar  and  the  bench.  The  case  was 
brought  here  by  appeal,  and  was  felt  to  be  one 
of  great  importance  in  principle.  It  was  con 
sidered  witli  an  anxiety  and  care  worthy  of 
the  principle  involved,  and  which  give  it  a 
controlling  influence  and  authority  on  all 
questions  of  a  similar  character." 

The  act  of  February  28,  1803,  (2  Stat.  at 
Large,  205,)  to  prevent  the  importation  of  cer 
tain  persons  into  States,  when  by  the  laws 
thereof  their  admission  is  prohibited,  in  its 
first  section  forbids  all  masters  of  vessels  to 
import  or  bring  "any  negro,  mulatto,  or  other 
person  of  color,  not  being  a  native,  a  citizen, 
or  registered  seaman  of  the  United  States,"  &c. 

The  Constitution  of  Missouri.,  under  which 
that  State  applied  for  admission  into  the  Union, 
provided,  that  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the 
Legislature  "to  pass  laws  to  prevent  free  ne 
groes  and  mulattoes  from  coming  to  and  set 
tling  in  the  State,  under  any  pretext  whatever." 
One  ground  of  objection  to  the  admission  of 
the  State  under  this  Constitution  was,  that  it 
would  require  the  Legislature  to  exclude  free 
persons  of  color,  who  would  be  entitled,  under 
the  second  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the 
Constitution,  not  only  to  come  within  the  State, 
but  to  enjoy  there  the  privileges  and  immuni 
ties  of  citizens.  The  resolution  of  Congress 
admitting  the  State  was  upon  the  fundamental 
condition,  "that  the  Constitution  of  Missouri 
shall  never  be  construed  to  authorize  the  pas 
sage  of  any  law,  and  that  no  law  shall  be  passed 
in  conformity  thereto,  by  which  any  citizen  of 
either  of  the  States  of  this  Union  shall  be  ex 
cluded  from  the  enjoyment  of  any  of  the  priv 
ileges  and  immunities  to  which  such  citizen  is 
entitled  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States." 

In  Fulton  v.  Lewis,  (3  Harris  and  Johnson,) 
a  case  in  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  Maryland : 

"At  the  trial,  the  following  facts  were  ad 
mitted  in  evidence:  John  Levant,  a  married 
man,  being  a  native  and  resident  of  the  Island 

I  of  St.  Domingo,  removed  from  that  place  in 
July,  1793,  flying  from  disturbances  which 

'  then  existed  there,  endangering  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  inhabitants,  and  brought  with 
him  into  this  State  three  negroes,  of  whom 
the  petitioner  (now  appellee)  is  one,  who  he 
then  and  before  owned  as  a  slave.  That  in 
May,  1794,  he  sold  the  petitioner,  as  a  slave, 


76 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


to  William  Cleinru,  who  sold  him  as  such  to 
the  defeudaut,  (the  appellant.)  That  said 
Levant  arrived  in  Baltimore  in  August,  1793, 
and  continued  to  reside  there  until  some  time 
in  1796,  when  he  returned  to  the  West  Indies. 
The  defendant  thereupon  prayed  the  direction 
of  the  court  to  the  jury,  that  if  they  believed 
the  facts,  the  petitioner  was  not  entitled  to  his 
freedom.  This  opinion  the  court  [Scott,  C.  J.] 
refused  to  give,  but  directed  the  jury  that  upon 
these  facts  the  petitioner  was  free.  The  defend 
ant  excepted;  and  the  verdict  and  judgment 
being  against  him,  he  appealed  to  this  court, 
where  the  case  was  argued  before  Chase,  Chief 
Justice,  and  Buchanan,  Nicholson,  Earle,  John 
son,  and  Martin,  Justices. 

a  Glenn,  for  the  appellant,  contended  that  the 
act  of  1783,  ch.  23,  under  which  the  petitioner 
claimed  his  freedom,  meant  onlv  a  voluntary 
importation  of  slaves,  and  not  an  importation 
arising  from  absolute  necessity,  produced  by 
causes  over  which  the  owner,  as  in  this  case, 
had  and  could  have  no  control." 

HENRY  CLAY. 

An  Address  delivered  to  the  Colonization  Society 
of  Kentucky,  at  Frankfort,  December  17, 1829, 
by  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  at  the  request  of  the 
Board  of  Managers. — [Extracts.] 

The  African  part  of  our  population,  or 
their  ancestors,  were  brought  hither  forcibly 
and  by  violence,  in  the  prosecution  of  the 
most  abominable  traffic  that  ever  disgraced 
the  annals  of  the  human  race.  They  were 
chiefly  procured,  in  their  native  country,  as 
captives  in  war,  taken,  and  subsequently  sold 
by  the  conqueror,  as  slaves,  to  the  slave  trader. 
Sometimes  the  most  atrocious  practices  of  kid 
napping  were  employed  to  obtain  possession  of 
the  victims.  Wars  were  frequent  between 
numerous  and  barbarous  neighboring  tribes 
scattered  along  the  coast  or  stretched  upon 
the  margin  of  large  rivers  of  Africa.  These 
wars  were  often  enkindled  and  prosecuted  for 
no  other  object  than  to  obtain  a  supply  of 
subjects  for  this  most  shocking  commerce.  In 
these  modes,  husbands  were  torn  from  their 
wives,  parents  from  their  children,  brethren 
from  each  other,  and  every  tie  cherished  and 
respected  among  men  was  violated.  Upon  the 
arrival,  at  the  African  coast,  of  the  unfortunate 
beings  thus  reduced  to  slavery,  they  were  em 
barked  on  board  of  ships  carefully  constructed 
and  arranged  to  contain  the  greatest  amount  of 
human  beings.  Here  they  were  ironed  and 
fastened  in  parallel  rows,  and  crowded  together 
so  closely,  in  loathsome  holes,  as  not  to  have 
room  for  action  or  for  breathing  wholesome 
air.  The  great  aim  was  to  transport  the  largest 
possible  number,  at  the  least  possible  charge, 
from  their  native  land  to  the  markets  for  which 
they  were  destined.  The  greediness  of  cupid 
ity  was  frequently  disappointed  and  punished 
in  its  purposes,  by  the  loss  of  moieties  of  whole 
cargoes  of  the  subjects  of  this  infamous  com 
merce,  from  want  and  suffering  and  disease  on 
the  voyage.  How  much  happier  were  they 


who  thus  expired,  than  their  miserable  sur 
vivors  ! 

The  United  States,  as  a  nation,  are  not  re 
sponsible  for  the  original  introduction  or  the 
subsequent  continuance  of  the    slave   trade. 
Whenever,  as  has  often  happened,  their  char 
acter  has  been  assailed  in  foreign  countries, 
and  by  foreign  writers,  on  account  of  the  in 
stitution  of  slavery  among  us,  the  justness  of 
that  vindication  has  been  admitted  by  the  can 
did,  which  transfers  to  a  foreign  Government 
the  origin  of  the  evil.     Nor  are  the  United 
States,  as  a  sovereign  Power,  responsible  for 
the  continuance  of  slavery  within  their  limits, 
posterior  to  the  establishment  of  their  Inde 
pendence;  because  by  neither  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  nor  by  the  present  Constitution, 
had  they  power  to  put  an  end  to  it  by  the 
adoption  of  any  system  of  emancipation.     But 
from    that   epoch,    the   responsibility   of  the 
several  States  in  which  slavery  was  tolerated 
commenced,  and  on  them  devolved  the  mo 
mentous  duty  of  considering  whether  the  evil 
of  African  slavery  is  incurable,  or  admits  of  a 
safe  and  practical  remedy.     In  performing  it, 
they  ought  to  reflect  that,  if  when  a  given  $ 
remedy  is  presented  to  their  acceptance,  in-  j 
stead  of  a  due  examination  and  deliberate  con- 1 
sideration  of  it,  they  promptly  reject  it,  and! 
manifest  an  impatience  whenever  a  suggestion  \ 
is  made  of  any  plan  to  remove  the  evil,  they  \ 
will  expose  themselves  to  the  reproach  of  yield-  \ 
ing  to  the  illusions  of  self-interest,  and  of  in-    1 
sincerity  in  the  professions  which  they  so  often     I 
make  of  a  desire  to  get  rid  of  slavery.     It  is  a     i 
great  misfortune,  growing  out  of  the  actual 
condition  of  the  several  States,  some  being 
exempt,  and  others  liable  to  this  evil,  that  they 
are  too  prone  to  misinterpret  the  views  and 
wishes  of  each  other  in  respect  to  it. 

The  several  States  of  the  Union  were  sen 
sible  of  the  responsibility  which  accrued  to 
them,  on  the  establishment  of  the  Independ 
ence  of  the  United  States,  in  regard  to  the 
subject  of  slavery.  And  many  of  them,  begin 
ning  at  a  period  prior  to  the  termination  of 
the  Revolutionary  war,  by  successive  buttiis- 
tinct  acts  of  legislation,  have  effectively  pro 
vided  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  within  their 
respective  jurisdictions.  More  than  thirty  years 
ago,  an  attempt  was  made,  in  this  Common 
wealth,  to  adopt  a  system  of  gradual  emanci 
pation,  similar  to  that  which  the  illustrious 
Franklin  had  mainly  contributed  to  introduce, 
in  the  year  17*79,  in  the  State  founded  by  the 
benevolent  Penn.  And,  among  the  acts  of  my 
life,  which  I  look  back  to  with  most  satisfac 
tion,  is  that  of  my  having  co-operated  with 
other  zealous  and  intelligent  friends,  to  pro 
cure  the  establishment  of  that  system  in  this 
State.  We  believed  that  the  sum  of  good 
which  would  have  been  attained  by  the  State 
of  Kentucky,  in  a  gradual  emancipation  of  her 
slaves,  at  that  period,  would  have  far  trans 
cended  the  aggregate  of  mischief  which  might 
have  resulted  to  herself  and  the  Union  together, 
from  the  gradual  liberation  of  them,  and  their 
dispersion  and  residence  in  the  United  States. 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


77 


We  "were  overpowered  by  numbers,  but  sub 
mitted  to  the  decision  of  the  majority  with  the 
grace  which  the  minority,  in  a  Republic,  should 
ever  yield  to  such  a  decision.  I  have,  never 
theless,  never  ceased,  and  shall  never  cease,  to 
regret  a  decision,  the  effects  of  which  have 
been  to  place  us  in  the  rear  of  our  neighbors, 
who  are  exempt  from  slavery,  in  the  state  of 
agriculture,  the  progress  of  manufactures,  the 
advance  of  improvement,  and  the  general  pros 
perity  of  society. 

As  a  mere  laborer,  the  slave  feels  that  he 
toils  for  his  master,  and  not  for  himself;  that 
the  laws  do  not  recognise  his  capacity  to  ac 
quire  and  hold  property,  which  depends  al 
together  upon  the  pleasure  of  his  proprietor; 
and  that  all  the  fruits  of  his  exertions  are 
reaped  by  others.  He  knows  that,  whether 
sick  or  well,  in  times  of  scarcity  or  abundance, 
his  master  is  bound  to  provide  for  him,  by  the 
all-powerful  influence  of  the  motive  of  self- 
interest.  He  is  generally,  therefore,  indifferent 
to  the  adverse  or  prosperous  fortunes  of  his 
master,  being  contented,  if  he  can  escape  his 
displeasure  or  chastisement,  by  a  careless  and 
slovenly  performance  of  his  duties. 

*  *  *  This  competition,  and  the  prefer 
ence  for  white  labor,  are  believed  to  be  already 
discernible  in  parts  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
Kentucky,  and  probably  existed  in  Pennsyl 
vania  and  other  States  north  of  Maryland, 
prior  to  the  disappearance  of  slaves  from 
among  them.  The  inarch  of  the  ascendency 
of  free  labor  over  slave,  will  proceed  from  the 
North  to  the  South,  gradually  entering  first 
the  States  nearest  to  the  free  region.  Its  pro 
gress  would  be  more  rapid,  if  it  were  not  im 
peded  by  the  check  resulting  from  the  repug 
nance  of  the  white  man  to  work  among  slaves, 
or  where  slavery  is  tolerated. — See  African 
(Colonization)  Repository,  March.  1830. 

Extract  from  Mr.  Clay's  Speech  before  the  Amer 
ican  Colonization  Society,  January,  1827. — See 
Tenth  Annual  Report. 

We  are  reproached  with  doing  mischief  by 
the  agitation  of  this  question.  The  society 
goes  into  no  household  to  disturb  its  domestic 
tranquillity;  it  addresses  itself  to  no  slaves, 
to  weaken  their  obligations  of  obedience.  It 
seeks  to  affect  no  man's  property.  It  neither 
has  the  power  nor  the  will  to  affect  the  prop 
erty  of  any  one,  contrary  to  his  consent.  The 
execution  of  its  scheme  would  augment,  instead 
of  diminishing,  the  value  of  the  property  left 
behind.  The  society,  composed  of  free  men, 
concerns  itself  only  with  the  free.  Collateral 
consequences,  we  are  not  responsible  for.  It 
is  not  this  society  which  has  produced  the 
great  moral  revolution  which  the  age  exhibits. 
What  would  they,  who  thus  reproach  us,  have 
done?  If  they  would  repress  all  tendencies 
towards  Liberty  and  ultimate  emancipation, 
they  must  do  more  than  put  down  the  benevo 
lent  efforts  of  this  society.  They  must  go  back 
to  the  era  of  our  Liberty  and  Independence, 
and  muzzle  the  cannon  which  thunders  its 
annual  joyous  return.  They  must  revive  the 


slave  trade,  with  all  its  train  of  atrocities. 
They  must  suppress  the  workings  of  British 
philanthropy,  seeking  to  ameliorate  the  condi 
tion  of  the  unfortunate  West  Indian  slaves. 
They  must  arrest  the  career  of  South  Ameri 
can  deliverance  from  thraldom.  They  must 
blow  out  the  moral  lights  around  us,  and  ex 
tinguish  that  greatest  torch  of  all,  which  Amer 
ica  presents  to  a  benighted  world,  pointing  the 
way  to  their  rights,  their  liberties,  and  their 
happiness.  And  when  they  have  achieved  all 
these  purposes,  their  work  will  be  yet  incom 
plete.  They  must  penetrate  the  human  soul, 
and  eradicate  the  light  of  reason  and  the  love 
of  liberty.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  when  uni 
versal  darkness  and  despair  prevail,  can  you 
perpetuate  slavery,  and  repress  all  sympathies 
and  all  humane  and  benevolent  efforts  among 
freemen,  in  behalf  of  the  unhappy  portion  of 
our  race  who  are  doomed  to  bondage. 

Our  friends,  who  are  cursed  with  this  greatest 
of  human  evils,  deserve  the  kindest  attention 
and  consideration.  Their  property  and  their 
safety  are  both  involved.  But  the  liberal  and 
candid  among  them  will  not,  cannot,  expect 
that  every  project  to  deliver  our  country  from 
it  is  to  be  crushed,  because  of  a  possible  and 
ideal  danger. 


HON.  BUSHROD  WASHINGTON. 
The  effect  of  this  institution,  if  its  prosperity 
shall  equal  our  wishes,  will  be  alike  propitious 
to  every  interest  of  our  domestic  society ;  and 
should  it  lead,  as  we  may  fairly  hope  it  will, 
to  the  slow  but  gradual  abolition  of  slavery,  it 
will  wipe  from  our  political  institutions  the 
only  blot  which  stains  them;  and,  in  palliation 
of  which,  we  shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  plead 
the  excuse  of  moral  necessity,  until  we  shall 
have  honestly  exerted  all  the  means  which  we 
possess  for  its  extinction. — See  First  Annual 
Report  of  the  Colonization  Society. 


WILLIAM  H.  FITZHUGH,  ESQ. 
Extracts  from  a  letter  from  William  H.  Fitzhuyh, 

Esq.,    of    Virginia,    to    a  gentleman    of  New 

York,  dated  Ravensworth,  August  llth,  1826. 

Our  design  was,  by  providing  an  asylum 
on  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  furnishing  the  ne 
cessary  facilities  for  removal  to  the  people  of 
color,  to  induce  the  voluntary  emigration  of 
that  portion  of  them  already  free,  and  to  throw 
open  to  individuals  and  the  States  a  wider 
door  for  voluntary  and  legal  emancipation. 
The  operation,  we  were  aware,  must  be  —  and. 
for  the  interests  of  our  country,  ought  to  be  — 
gradual.  But  we  entertained  a  hope,  founded 
on  our  knowledge  of  the  interests  as  well  a^ 
the  feelings  of  the  South,  that  this  operation, 
properly  conducted,  would,  in  the  end,  remove 
from  our  country  every  vestige  of  domestic 
slavery,  without  a  single  violation  of  individ 
ual  wishes  or  individual  rights.  *  *  * 

The  Colonization  Society  has  distinctly 
designated  the  extent  to  which  it  seeks  the 
interposition  of  the  Government  of  the  coun 
try.  It  asks  only  the  provisions  of  a  place  and 


73 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


a  Government  for  the  reception  and  protection 
of  such  persons  of  color  as  are  already  free, 
and  such  others  as  the  humanity  of  individuals, 
and  the  laws  of  the  different  States,  may  hereafter 
liberate  —  the  necessary  encouragement  to,  and 
the  necessary  facilities  for,  emigration  —  and, 
as  occasion  may  require  it,  pecuniary  aids  to 
the  States,  for  effecting,  in  such  modes  as  they 
may  choose,  the  extinction  of  slavery  within  their 
respective  limits.  Such,  and  such  only,  is  the 
interference  asked.  *  *  * 

But  whence,  it  may  be  asked,  is  derived 
the  proposed  authority  "  to  afford  encourage 
ment  to,  and  facilities  for,  emigration,"  and 
"  pecuniary  aids  to  the  States  for  effecting  the 
extinction  of  slavery  within  their  respective 
limits  ?  "  From  the  very  same  source,  I  answer, 
whence  springs  the  whole  power  of  appropria 
tion;  from  the  authority  "to  lay  and  collect 
taxes,  duties,  imposts,  to  pay  the  debts  and 
provide  for  the  common  defence  and  general 
welfare  of  the  country,"  and  an  authority,  evi 
dently  imposing  no  other  limitation  on  the 
power  of  appropriation,  than  that  it  be  applied 
exclusively  to  promoting  the  general  interests 
of  the  nation  ;  and  it  accordingly  may  be,  and 
under  every  Administration  has  been,  used  in 
aiding  the  accomplishment  of  objects  not  with 
in  the  reach  of  the  other  specified  powers  of 
the  Government.  It  is  on  this  principle  that 
large  sums  have  been  voted,  at  different  times, 
for  making  roads  and  canals,  for  ameliorating 
the  conditton  of  the  Indians,  for  giving  relief 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Caraccas,  for  restoring 
captured  Africans  to  their  homes,  for  suppress 
ing  the  slave  trade,  and,  above  all,  for  evinc 
ing  the  nation's  gratitude  to  Gen.  Lafayette. 


what  would  be  their  condition  ?  Four  hun 
dred  thousand,  or  a  greater  number,  of  poor, 
without  one  cent  of  property,  what  would 
become  of  them  ?  Disorganization  would  fol 
low,  and  perfect  confusion.  They  are  separated 
from  the  rest  of  society  by  a  different  color; 
there  can  be  no  intercourse  of  equality  between 
them  ;  nor  can  you  remove  them.  How  is  it 
practicable  ?  The  thing  is  impossible,  and 
they  must  remain  as  poor,  free  from  the  con 
trol  of  their  masters,  and  must  soon  fall  upon 
the  rest  of  society,  and  resort  to  plunder  for 
subsistence.  As  to  the  practicability  of  eman 
cipating  them,  it  can  never  be  done  by  the 
State  itself,  nor  without  the  aid  of  the  Union. 
And  what  would  be  their  condition,  suppo 
sing  they  were  emancipated,  and  not  removed 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Union  ?  The  experi 
ment  has  in  part  been  tried.  They  have  emi 
grated  to  Pennsylvania  in  great  numbers,  and 
form  a  part  of  the  population  of  Philadelphia, 
and  likewise  of  New  York  and  Boston.  But 
those  who  were  the  most  ardent  advocates  of 
emancipation,  in  those  portions  of  the  Union, 
have  been  shocked  at  the,  charges  of  main 
taining  them,  as  well  as  at  the  effect  of  their 
example.  Nay,  sir,  look  at  Ohio,  and  what 
has  she  recently  done?  Ohio  acknowledges 
the  equal  rights  of  all,  yet  she  has  driven  them 
off  from  her  territory.  She  ha.v  been  obliged 
to  do  it.  If  emancipation  be  possible,  I  look 
to  the  Union  to  aid  in  effecting  it. 

"  Sir,  what  brought  us  together  in  the  revo 
lutionary  war?  It  was  the  doctrine  of  equal 
rights.  Each  part  of  the  country  encouraged 
and  supported  every  other  part  of  it.  None 
took  advantage  of  the  others'  distresses.  And 


None  of  these  different  acts  can  be  brought    if  we  find  that  this  evil  has  preyed  upon  the 


within  the  enumerated  powers  of  the  Govern 
ment.  And  if  its  revenue  is  to  be  expended 
only  in  sustaining  these  powers,  not  only  must 
the  acts  in  question,  but  a  very  large  propor 
tion  of  the  numerous  acts  on  our  statute  book, 
involving  expenditure,  be  pronounced  viola 
tions  of  the  constitutional  charter. —  See  Af 
rican  (Colonization]  Repository,  October,  1826. 


MR.  MONROE. 

Extract  from  a  speech  of  Ex-President  Monroe, 
delivered  in  the  Virginia  State  Convention  for 
altering  the  Constitution,  Aow.  2d,  1829. 

"  What  has  been  the  leading  spirit  of  this 
State,  ever  since  our  independence  was  ob 
tained?  She  has  always  declared  herself  in 
favor  of  the  equal  rights  of  man.  The  revo 
lution  was  conducted  on  that  principle.  Yet 
there  was  at  that  time  a  slavish  population  in 
Virginia.  We  hold  it  in  the  condition  in 
which  the  Revolution  found  it,  and  what  can 
be  done  with  this  population  ?  If  they  were 
extinct,  or  had  not  been  here,  white  persons 
would  occupy  their  place,  and  perform  all  the 
offices  now  performed  by  them,  and  conse 
quently  be  represented.  If  the  white  people 
were  not  taxed,  they  also  would  be  free  from 
taxation.  If  you  set  them  free,  look  at  the 


vitals  of  the  Union,  and  has  been  prejudicial 
to  all  the  States  where  it  has  existed,  and  is 
likeu'ise  repugnant  to  their  several  State  Constitu 
tions  and  Bills  of  Rights,  why  may  we  not  ex 
pect  that  they  will  unite  with  us  in  accom 
plishing  its  removal  ?  If  we  make  the  attempt, 
and  cannot  accomplish  it,  the  effect  will  at 
least  be  to  abate  the  great  number  of  petitions 
and  memorials  which  are  continually  pouring 
in  upon  the  Government.  This  matter  is  be 
fore  the  nation,  and  the  principles  and  con 
sequences  involved  in  it  are  of  the  highest 
importance.  But,  in  the  mean  while,  self-pres 
ervation  demands  of  us  union  in  <>'ir  councils. 
"  What  was  the  origin  of  our  .-lave  popula 
tion?  The  evil  commenced  when  we  were  in 
our  colonial  state,  but  acts  were  passed  by  onr 
Colonial  Legislature,  prohibiting  the  importa 
tion  of  more  slaves  into  the  colony.  These 
were  rejected  by  the  Crown.  We  declared  our 
independence,  and  the  prohibition  of  a  further 
importation  was  among  the  first  acts  of  State 
sovereignty.  Virginia  was  the  first  State 
which  instructed  her  delegates  to  declare  the 
Colonies  independent.  She  braved  all  dangers. 
From  Quebec  to  Boston,  and  from  Boston  to 
Savannah,  Virginia  shed  the  blood  of  her  sons. 
No  imputation,  then,  can  be  cast  upon  her  in 
this  matter.  She  did  all  that  was  in  her  power 


condition  of  society.     Emancipate  them,  and    to  do,  to  prevent  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  to 


THE    SOUTHERN    PLATFORM. 


79 


mitigate  its  evils." — See  Debates  of  the  Conven 
tion,  page  149. 

Mr.  Benj.  Watkins  Leigh  said:  *  *  * 
"  Sir,  the  venerable  gentleman  from  Loudoun 
(Mr.  Monroe)  spoke  of  the  impracticability  of 
any  scheme  of  emancipation  without  the  aid 
of  the  General  Government.  Is  he,  then,  and 
if  he  is,  are  we  reconciled  to  the  idea  of  the 
interference  of  the  General  Government  in 
this  most  delicate  and  peculiar  interest  of  our 
own  ?  What  right  can  that  Government  have 
to  interfere  in  it  ?  " 

Mr.  Monroe  here  explained. 

"  I  consider  the  question  of  slavery  as  one 
of  the  most  important  that  can  come  before 
this  body;  it  is  certainly  one  which  must 
deeply  affect  the  Commonwealth,  whether  the 
decision  be  to  maintain  it  over  those  now  in 
that  state,  or  to  attempt  their  emancipation. 
The  idea  I  meant  to  suggest  was,  that  the  sub 
ject  had  assumed  a  new  and  very  important 
character,  by  what  had  occurred  in  the  other 
States,  and  particularly  in  those  in  which 
slavery  does  not  exist.  We  had  seen  in  the 
early  stage  a  strong  pressure  for  emancipation 
from  the  Eastern  States,  and  equally  so,  of 
late,  from  the  States  in  the  West ;  but  eman 
cipation  had  thrown  many  of  our  liberated 
slaves  upon  them  ;  in  consequence  of  which, 
they  have  been  driven  back,  and  all  interfer 
ence  on  their  part  has  ceased. 

"  The  subject  is  now  brought  home  to  them 
as  well  as  to  ourselves  ;  and  the  question  to  be 
decided  by  us  is,  whether  their  emancipation 
is  practicable  or  not.  Should  the  decision  be 
that  it  was  practicable,  I  did  not  mean  to  con 
vey  the  idea  that  the  United  States  should 
interfere,  of  right,  as  is  advocated  by  many. 
I  meant  to  suggest,  that  if  the  wisdom  of  Vir 
ginia  should  decide  that  it  was  practicable, 
and  invite  the  aid  of  the  General  Government, 
that  it  should  then  be  afforded  at  her  instance, 
and  not  that  of  the  United  States,  as  having 
the  least  authority  in  the  matter." 

Mr.  Leigh  :  "I  thank  the  gentleman  for  his 
explanation." — See  Debates  in  Convention,  page 
m-'3. 

I  find  the  following  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
Convention,  which  may  throw  some  light  on 
the  question  of  free  negro  citizenship.  It  oc 
curs  in  the  proceedings  of  Friday,  December 
18,  1829: 

"  The  third  resolution  as  amended  in  the 
House  yesterday,  on  Mr.  Leigh's  motion,  was 
next  read,  in  the  words  following : 

"  '  Every  male  citizen  of  the  Commonwealth, 
'  resident  therein,  aged  twenty-one  years  and 
'  upwards,  other  than  free  negroes  and  mulat- 
'  toes,'  "  &c.,  &c. 

[This  resolution  was  adopted;  but  those  who 
voted  against  it  did  so  without  reference  to 
the  above  phraseology.] 

The  subject  of  slavery  was  only  discussed 
incidentally  during  the  deliberations  of  the 
Convention,  and  mainly  in  reference  to  the 


basis  of  representation.  The  Eastern  mem 
bers  insisted  on  the  representation  of  slaves 
as  persons  or  property,  while  those  from  the 
West  favored  the  white  basis,  but  denied  that 
the  West  was  disposed  to  interfere  with  slave 
property.  Several  members  incidentally  ex 
pressed  sentiments  adverse  to  slavery ;  but  I 
find  no  passage  of  marked  interest,  except  the 
preceding  from  Mr.  Monroe. 


PATRICK    HENRY. 

HANOVER,  Jan.  18,  1779. 

DEAR  SIR  :  I  take  this  opportunity  to  ac 
knowledge  the  receipt  of  Anthony  Benezet's 
book  against  the  slave  trade.  I  thank  you  for 
it.  It  is  not  a  little  surprising,  that  the  pro 
fessors  of  Christianity,  whose  chief  excellence 
consists  in  softening  the  human  heart,  in  cher 
ishing  and  improving  its  finer  feelings,  should 
encourage  a  practice  so  totally  repugnant  to 
the  first  impressions  of  right  and  wrong.  What 
adds  to  the  wonder  is,  that  this  abominable 
practice  has  been  introduced  in  the  most  en 
lightened  ages.  Times  that  seem  to  have  pre- 
tentions  to  boast  of  high  improvements  in  the 
arts  and  sciences,  and  refined  morality,  have 
brought  into  general  use,  and  guarded  by  many 
laws,  a  species  of  violence  and  tyranny,  which 
our  more  rude  and  barbarous,  but  more  hon 
est  ancestors,  detested.  Is  it  not  amazing, 
that  at  a  time  when  the  rights  of  humanity 
are  defined  and  understood  with  precision  in 
a  country,  above  all  others,  fond  of  liberty, 
that  in  such  an  age,  and  in  such  a  country,  we 
find  men  professing  a  religion  the  most  hit- 
mane,  mild,  gentle  and  generous,  adopting  a 
principle  as  repugnant  to  humanity  as  it  is 
inconsistent  with  the  Bible  and  destructive  to 
liberty?  Every  thinking,  honest  man  rejects 
it  in  speculation ;  how  few  in  practice,  from 
conscientious  motives ! 

Would  any  one  believe  that  I  am  master  of 
slaves,  of  my  own  purchase?  I  am  drawn 
along  by  the  general  inconvenience  of  living 
here  without  them.  I  will  not,  I  cannot  jus 
tify  it.  However  culpable  my  conduct,  I  will 
so  far  pay  my  devoir  to  Virtue,  as  to  own  the 
excellence  and  rectitude  of  her  precepts,  and 
lament  my  want  of  conformity  to  them. 

1  believe  a  time  will  come,  when  an  opportunity 
will  be  offered  to  abolish  this  lamentable  evil. 
Everything  we  can  do  is  to  improve  it,  if  it 
happens  in  our  day ;  if  not,  let  us  transmit  to 
our  descendants,  together  with  our  slaves,  a 
pity  for  their  unhappy  lot,  and  our  abhorrence 
for  slavery.  If  we  cannot  reduce  this  wished- 
for  reformation  to  practice,  let  us  treat  the 
unhappy  victims  with  lenity.  It  is  the  further 
most  advance  we  can  make  towards  justice ; 
it  is  a  debt  we  owe  to  the  purity  of  our  reli 
gion,  to  show  that  it  is  at  variance  with  that 
law  which  warrants  slavery.  I  know  not 
where  to  stop.  I  could  say  many  things  on 
the  subject,  a  serious  view  of  which  gives  a 
gloomy  perspective  to  future  times. — Letter  to 
Robert  Pleasants. 


INDEX. 


The  Slave  Trade  condemned  by  the      PAGES. 
people  of  the  South  in  County  and 
State  Conventions,  and  by  the  Con 
tinental   Congress, 3,  4,  5 

The  Writings  of  Washington, 5,  6,  7,  8 

Dr.  Franklin  on  Slavery, 8,  9,  10,  38,  39 

Thos.  Jefferson  on  Slavery, 10,  29 — 37 

Mr.  Chase,  of  Maryland,..*. 11 

John  Adams,  of  Massachusetts, 11 

Mr.  Wilson,  of  Pennsylvania, 11,  17,  19,  27 

Mr.  Madison,   12,  13,18,19,22,24,25,38,  39,71 

RufusKing, 13,  14 

Gouverneur  Morris,  of  Penn., 14, 15,  18,  19 

Edmund  Randolph,  of  Va.,  14,   17,  19,  20,  25 
Roger  Sherman,  of  Connecticut,   14,  16, 18,19 

Luther  Martin,  of  Maryland, 15 

Col.  George  Mason,  of  Va.,  16,    18,  20,  21,  23 

Mr.  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania, 17,  18,  19 

Mr.  Langdon,  of  New  Hampshire, 17 

Mr.  Williamson,  of  North  Carolina, 18 

Mr.  Lee,  of  Westmoreland, 20 

Mr.  Pendleton,  of  Va., 20 

Patrick  Henry, , 20,  21,  22,  23,  24,  79 

George  Nicholas, 21,  23 

Mr.  Tyler,  of  Virginia, 22 

Mr.  McDowell,  of  North  Carolina, 26 

Mr.  Iredell,  of  North  Carolina, 26,  27 

Mr.  Wright,  of  North  Carolina, 26 

Mr.  Galloway,  of  North  Carolina, 26 

Mr.  Gaston,  of  North  Carolina, 37 

Mr.  Parker,  of  Virginia, 38 

Memorial    from   Pennsylvania   Abolition 

Society, 38,  40,  41,42 

Mr.  Seney,  of  Maryland, 39 

Mr.  Page,  of  Virginia, 39,  41 

Report  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  40,  41 

Mr.  White,  of  Virginia, 40 

Mr.  Vining,  of  Delaware, 41 

Quaker  Memorial, 41 

Debate  on  Emancipation  in  the  Virginia 
Legislature  in  1832, 42 


Richmond  Enquirer, 43 

Mr.  Moore,  of  Rockbridge, 43 

Mr.  Rives,  of  Campbell, 44 

Mr.  Powell, 44 

Mr.  Preston, 44 

Mr.  Summers,  of  Kanawha, 44 

Mr.  Chandler,  of  Norfolk, 44 

Mr.  Thomas  J.  Randolph,  of  Albemarle,....46 

Mr.  Henry  Berry,  of  Jefferson, 46 

Mr.  Thomas  Marshall,  of  Fauquier,.....' 47 

Mr.  James  McDowell,  of  Rockbridge, 47 

Mr.  Philip  A.  Boiling,  of  Buckingham, 49 

Gen.  Brodnax,  of  Dinwiddie, 49 

Hon.  Charles  J.  Faulkner, 50—54 

Nashville  (Tenn.)  Banner,.... 54 

Nashville  (Tenn.)  Republican, 54 

State  Convention  of  Tennessee, 54 

Mr.  Stephenson,  of  Tennessee, 54 

Mr.  Laughlin,  of  Tennessee, 54,  55 

Protest  against  non-action,  (Tenn.) 54,  55 

St.  George  Tucker,  of  Virginia, 55 

Henry  Clay, 55—59,  76 

William  Pinkney,  of  Maryland, 60 — 62 

General  Lafayette, 63,  64 

G.  W.  P.  Custis, 63,  64 

Bishop  Meade,  of  Virginia, 64 

Presbyterian  Church  on  Slavery, 65 

Delaware  Colonization  Society, 66 

Norfolk,  Va.,  Calonization  Society, 66 

Hon.  Francis  S.  Key, ..67 

President  Young,  of  Transylvania   Col 
lege, 67 

Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge,  Ky., 68 

Gen.  Robert  Goodloe  Harper,  of  Md., 69 

John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke, 71 

President  Monroe, 71,  78 

General  Jackson, 72 

Ordinance  of  1787, 72 

Judicial  Decisions, 72 

Judge  Bushrod  Washington, 77 

William  H.  Fitzhugh,  Esq.,  of  Va., 77 


RETURN     CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 
TO—*      202  Main  Library 

LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

Renewals  and  Recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  the  due  date. 

Books  may  be  Renewed  by  calling     642-3405. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


AUTO  DISC  Cm    FEB06'93 


NO.  DD6 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


